Antonio Brown requested a trade from the Pittsburgh Steelers leading to speculation about the Cleveland Browns and the potential to acquire his services.
This happens every time a superstar player requests a trade or becomes a free agent. Cleveland Browns fans everywhere try and find some rationale into why said player will come to Cleveland. The latest incarnation of this fantasy is Antonio Brown. Brown requested a trade from the Pittsburgh Steelers and almost instantly it became it was “make it happen John Dorsey” time.
This type of thinking is understandable. Acquiring an elite player at a premier position is always difficult to do and when a path presents itself to trade/sign a superstar player most begin their trip to fantasyland. It does not appear that Antonio Brown will be appearing in a Pittsburgh Steelers uniform next season. In fact it almost seems like a guarantee (even though the Steelers have not yet granted his trade request).
While he may end up in a new city, this does not mean Antonio Brown will end up in Cleveland.
Pittsburgh will not trade Antonio Brown to an up and coming division rival
The Cleveland Browns are an up and coming team. They are also a division rival of Antonio Brown’s current team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. It is extremely unlikely that Pittsburgh would deal a player of Brown’s talent to a division rival. Especially if the division rival is considered by some to be the favorite to win the division next season. The blowback Pittsburgh would receive from sending Brown to Cleveland would be immense. After witnessing Brown become a distraction last season, it would be hard to justify to Steelers fans who would have to watch him in a Browns uniform burning their defense twice a year.
Baker Mayfield does not need Antonio Brown
This may be an overlooked aspect of this discussion. Baker Mayfield does not need a player of Antonio Brown’s talent. Mayfield is able make the players around him better. While other quarterbacks are made better by their supporting cast, Mayfield excelled with receivers many considered to be very much replaceable. Sure, improving the wide receiver position would be nice and may happen, but it is not a pressing need. Mayfield can continue to perform at a high level without Antonio Brown.
The cost of Antonio Brown will be astronomical
Acquiring Antonio Brown is a luxury move that the Browns are not quite in the position to make. While the team has a solid foundation, there are some holes that do need to be addressed. The required draft picks to acquire Brown would take away from resources to address these needs.
Add in the fact that Pittsburgh will take on a massive dead cap hit if they were to trade Brown.
While the team that acquires him can send money back in the trade to cover this cap hit, over $20 million is a lot of money. Especially when considering at least one high draft pick would be required to acquire his services. It is also worth mentioning that the Steelers would charge the Browns what would amount to a division rival tax, requiring much more from Cleveland than most other teams.
While it is a fun fantasyland to live in, it just is not all that realistic to think Antonio Brown will end up in Cleveland via trade. This is a trade more likely to happen in Madden than real life. If Brown was a free agent it would be a different story. That is when conversations like this would be reasonable, but for now they are just pure fantasy.