It may not be one of the destinations Antonio Brown had hoped for, but the Pittsburgh Steelers are reportedly close to trading the disgruntled wide receiver to the Buffalo Bills, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Brown requested a trade on February 12 and the Steelers worked to honor that request. He made it clear via his social media activity that he wanted to play for the San Francisco 49ers. The only problem is the 49ers showed no signs of interest.
Both head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis last week that they had not contacted the Steelers to inquire about Brown.
One roadblock was the fact that Brown and his representatives were not given permission to facilitate a trade. That means any team looking to acquire the All-Pro receiver would need to do so without discussing the situation with him. They also could not discuss his contract or the conditions of playing for the new team.
It will be interesting to hear what the Bills plan to give up to acquire Brown. The Steelers at one point reportedly wanted a first-round pick. Brown's offseason antics likely lowered his value.
Then you have Brown recently telling ESPN that he doesn't even have to play football.
"Listen, I don't even have to play football if I don't want to, bro," Brown told Jeff Darlington of ESPN. "I don't even need the game, you know what I'm saying? I don't need to prove anything to anyone. If they want to play, they're going to play by my rules. If not, I don't need to play."
Will he want to play in Buffalo?
"If I retire now, I'm great (financially)," Brown added.
The Steelers have reportedly set an unofficial deadline of Friday to resolve the situation with Brown.
Pittsburgh made Brown a sixth-round selection out of Central Michigan in 2010. He registered 104 receptions for 1,297 yards with 15 touchdowns through 15 starts with the Steelers in 2018. Brown has caught 837 passes for 11,207 yards with 74 touchdowns through nine NFL seasons. He is a seven-time Pro Bowl selection and four-time first-team All-Pro.