They didn’t pay Mack, that was stupid. They stole Antonio Brown, and paid him market value, that was not stupid. I think it’s lretty evident that Gruden didn’t value Mack, or just plain didn’t like him. I’m curious how much credit Mike Mayock deserves for this deal, I don’t know what his level of input is on that franchise despite his title.
That may be, but they've been good nearly every season I've watched football. I'm not saying they're flawless, but not many fanbases have had it easier than Pittsburgh over the last 20 years or so.
Kinda surprised the Saints weren't in on Brown at that price. Seems like they'd be all in to gear up for Brees last few years.
A great quarterback can mask a lot of issues on roster management, especially when you hit the lottery on a sixth round receiver and second round running back. I’m not saying they’re the worst but they’re not the infallibly run franchise that gets portrayed in the media a lot.
Any fan of teams like the Steelers that complains about incompetent management should be forced to watch the Dolphins every week for 10 years
Bell was much more replaceable as was pretty evident this year, Brown is irreplaceable, and I agree it’s unlikely we make the playoffs.
obviously the market set brown’s value. if the steelers could have gotten more than that, they would have. clearly they wanted nothing to do with him anymore and now he’s oakland’s problem best wr in the league, yeah probably. but when you factor in his age, his attitude, and his price, not sure anyone that trades for him ‘wins’ the deal
For the Saints to have been in (assuming PIT preferred 2019 picks), they would have had to give up their 2 and 5. They don't pick in rounds 1, 3 or 4. That would have meant they didn't pick until the sixth round (#178), and also had to pay a 30+ year old WR that contract at the same time Michael Thomas is a year from FA.
Ah. I knew they gave up a lot in trade ups lately for Davenport and I think someone else. Didn't realize they were that short on picks though.
You thinking letting go of the best RB and WR for a 3 and 5 after not even getting a single SB appearance out of that group is good asset management? Team is run poorly and at this point I'm excited to see it all crumble like Ben's body.
That's exactly why they would consider it if they had the picks, not a reason against it. They have a 1-2 year window for a SB run. May as well shove all your chips in the middle since you aren't winning for a while once Brees is done anyway.
They only get the comp pick next year if they don’t make any big signings to UFA’s who weren’t cut (and if Bell doesnt end up signing a 1-year “prove it” deal). So yeah, this all worked out really well for Pittsburgh. Yet somehow, Colbert and Tomlin still have jobs.
I get the frustration, but really good players leave for far less than their perceived value (or nothing at all) all the time in football.
They only got what they did for brown because he wanted new money and he was dictating where he wanted to go. There's a reason they took the bills offer, it was better.
The trade itself when looked at purely in a vacuum is a fine one based on what was swapped for what. But it shows that they have no idea what they're doing and they weren't actually tanking/rebuilding like everyone who wasn't paying attention to the raiders claimed they were doing last year.
put on 95.7 for a second to see what the reaction was like. Seems like Oakland folks are really happy
Saints have drafted well over the last few years. I trust their scouting and like the idea of signing Thomas long term and drafting needs. My guess is the Saints will sign the heat FA QB they can after next year. No clue who that is or will be thougb
Oakland reaction: Indifferent because the team is leaving, but we still hate the Steelers so lol them.
Okay so the “wouldn’t pay Mack but will pay Brown” crowd is being a bit dramatic. I get being upset with this not falling in line with a rebuild but stand alone, this was a great deal for the Raiders.
There should be no comparison of paying Mack vs Brown. They're not even in the same stratosphere. Someone wants to argue paying Cooper vs paying Brown? That's a much more compelling discussion imo
No its not. Mack was 27 and a top 2 defensive player in the game who you said you didn't have the money to spend on. He's making like 5-6 million more a year over one additional year than what brown just got. They went on and on about how you can't spend that kind of yearly money on it, which everyone knew was bullshit.
"it's tough to have two players that are the highest paid at their position" - excuse for not paying mack from same man who just traded for the highest paid WR
You don’t think 5-6 mil more per year is significant? And factor in what you you’re potentially getting for Mack versus what you paid for brown.
Part of the money aspect is ownership being willing to pay the up front money. Mack got a $34M signing bonus. It sounds like Brown's guaranteed money is coming in his salaries as opposed to that kind of money up front.
There were plenty of ways to get that deal done. Gruden just didn't want to pay him and kept making excuses and saying things like "well he obviously didn't want to be here since he held out". Gruden is just full of shit and wants to blame everyone but himself and will lie about things in the process. He has no idea what he's doing roster wise
If the Raiders continue to be a joke but take the Steelers down with us this is the best trade in NFL history.
If Carr feeds Brown like he did Amari Cooper, this should be an entertaining shit show. It'll probably be that anyways because of Gruden.
Raiders fans do you guys still want to draft wr with one of your first four picks in the draft or does it become less important now? Pairing brown with a Metcalf/butler type could be a lot of fun.
We a absolutely need another weapon. We have nothing. WR is weak, tight end is weak, no clue if Marshawn is playing but we need another back. I don't care if we take a WR specifically in those first four picks because we need someone at every position on the team that isn't qb or IOL
Offensive skill players currently under contract: Antonio brown Jordy nelson Seth roberts Keon hatcher Saeed blacknail Rashard Davis Lee smith Derek carrier Darren waller Paul butler Jalen richard DeAndre washington James butler Chris warren Look at that trash
I don't believe that would do it. In a vacuum I'd love that trade but spending that much money at WR for the foreseeable future when we can't even pass protect and Gruden is hell bent on being unexciting it doesn't really make sense