Antonio Brown wants out of Pittsburgh. The Steelers are willing to move on from the seven-time Pro Bowl selection and four-time first-team All-Pro. Brown wants to play for the San Francisco 49ers, according to his activity on social media.
Most recently, Brown spent some time at a Super Bowl party with 49ers safety Adrian Colbert. Who knows what the two discussed? Maybe they talked about potentially lining up against one another during practices.
A Brown-to-49ers trade is all speculation at this point. But that's pretty much what happens during the offseason. San Francisco would have to be willing to meet Pittsburgh's asking price for the receiver, who seeks a change of scenery.
Part of that speculation can include making way-too-early predictions for the 2019 season. With Super Bowl 53 and the end of the 2018 season in the books, ESPN saw fit to release a list of 10 bold predictions for 2019. One of those predictions involved Brown and the 49ers.
Dan Graziano of ESPN predicts that Brown will lead the league in receptions next season. That is not too bold of a prediction in itself. Brown did lead the NFL in receptions in 2014 and 2015, after all. He also led the league in receiving yards in 2014 and 2017 and receiving touchdowns this past season. Brown is a pretty darn good receiver.
The kicker is that Graziano believes Brown will lead the NFL in receptions next season ... with the 49ers.
"The odds strongly favor Pittsburgh trading Brown this offseason," wrote Graziano. "Releasing him would allow a conference rival like Baltimore or New England to get him, and that's not in the Steelers' interests at all. So shipping him off to an NFC West team makes more sense. San Francisco has the cap space to give Brown a new contract if he wants one, and there's no doubt Brown knows all about what Julio Jones did in Atlanta two years ago as the No. 1 wide receiver in a Kyle Shanahan offense."
Also among the bold predictions is San Francisco making the playoffs in 2019. Graziano believes that quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo remaining healthy for the whole year and a busy and productive offseason will put the 49ers in position to earn a playoff spot for the first time since the 2013 season.
Not bad for a team which won 10 games over the past two seasons.
Graziano also predicts the 49ers, along with the New York Jets, to be among the teams bidding for running back Le'Veon Bell but both will ultimately lose out to the Houston Texans.