That was an odd eight hours.
The Antonio Brown saga appeared to be coming to an end, but now it appears to be nowhere near a conclusion. Late Thursday evening, Ian Rapoport reported the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills were nearing a deal that would send Brown to Buffalo.
This morning, it appears trade talks have broken down. Bills general manager Brandon Beane released a statement confirmed the Bills inquired about Brown, but after some “positive discussions,” it ended up not working out.
“We inquired about Antonio Brown on Tuesday, and kept talks open with the Steelers,” GM Brandon Beane said in a statement. “We had positive discussions, but ultimately it didn’t make sense for either side. As great a player as Antonio Brown is, we have moved on and our focus is on free agency.”
Thursday evening, Bills bear writer Vic Carucci initially reported that the Bills had inquired, but no deal was imminent and one source said it was “unlikely.” Early Friday morning, Steelers beat writer Gerry Dulac reported the deal fell apart because Brown had “nixed” it.
A deal to the Bills would have gotten Brown out of the Steelers division and also provided a weapon to fight their rivals (New England). Instead, the Steelers have one less team to leverage for a trade. The Oakland Raiders are a team rumored to be interested, but we have not heard any further specifics.
There is no word on what the Bills were prepared to trade for Brown, so we are effectively back at square one with this news. It was an odd eight hours, but all it has done is made Brown that much more difficult for Pittsburgh to trade.
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