F Brown!

At this point I hate them both. I hope karma catches up with them.

 

In time, perhaps. Maybe he just thinks he is so great, he can make any team a winner. That really isn't relevant at the moment. He forced his way into the trade and the contract he wanted. The Steelers hurt the team on the field because they caved. He won. They lost. It's that simple.

 

I truly wished they could have or should have gotten better return in the move. I believe Brown ****ed any shot of that up. I had hoped a stupid team would appear (as we've all seen many times before) to be THE suitor that would give ya Mike Ditka type heave ho to land the idiot. Thing about it all is these teams learn moving foreward league wide. Sad part is the owners aren't collectively on the same page in any of it. AB was baited and cast out... Ultimately he poo poo'd the Bills deal which I'm not sure was a great deal to begin with other than the 9 spot they would've netted without gaining anything more for this legendary talent hahahahahaha. Thus, he had to go for peanuts just like Holmes did after winning the ship MVP! Funny some latter reports tell of ownership league wide now worrying about similar behavior being rewarded as he was for being a douche bag. Leagues not pro active always reactive and usually not in a positive fashion.
They'll pull a regrettable move for a shot to move their needle further everytime even when it usually does not not amount to the ultimate goal of hoisting a trophy.

AB was a great talent no arguements there but he was cancerous in his actions outside of the lines that in fact trickled inside the lines. Bottom line is, he wasn't the adrenaline shot needed to put the team over the hump right? Nor was Bell. Look at the raiders... They winning it all had they kept Mack? Highly unlikely but his leaving affected the locker room and arguably cost them some games be it mentally alone. AB was here had his stats but was causing **** here negatively the same while still getting great personal numbers. Can't keep him after his moron parade and further expect anything positive, outside of big AB numbers that end with the team on the couch come dance time. I really believe cohesiveness transcends talent to the point you can lose a tied on buoy and still keep the boat semi scratch free and in a good spot. We'll see moving foreward but AB wasn't gonna make us anything more than worse keepin him on the roster this year if he kept his current ball rolling. Would do no good for Pitt or the league now or in the future to strong arm him when other teams in the league wouldn't do the same... Even at the realization point that they **** the bed.

I once thought that when they bounced Holmes for a 5th that it might wake some players up and shake up work ethic league wide! Man the joke was on me and some others for sure. We've been watching a team that is subject to the changing society just like the rest. Until they all collectively hold mofo's accountable and quit rewarding under the guise of a missing piece it will be the same. That goes for all sports. It's a privilege to be a star and make that type of coin or atleast it should be but we live in the excuse filled era that refuses to exist with common sense.

Can't please everyone.

 

why curse the homeless. leave them alone

 

I agree NY. This is the first and will probably be the last thing I've ever paid attention to what Del Rio has to say. Just happens I agree with him and it's good to hear it from a third party.

 

Almost as bad as the futile Muffin Stump giveaways on Seinfeld..............

 

I don't see this situation as purely two dimensional, as you seem to be viewing it. Just because you (by speculation) assume this was entirely about Brown wanting out AND more money (I would argue based upon his continued shots at former teammates there's more to it than that - and obviously still unresolved to Brown), doesnt mean the Steelers lost in sending him on his way.

If I were a GM, there's no way I would have given much more than the Steelers got for Brown. His age and recent antics made it so. If I were the Steelers, I'd want the cancer removed, period. If I get something in return, fine, but remove the tumor and move on. And while some may be focused on the immediate, and what was had in return, it was obvious that the issue had exasperated beyond saving. It had to be removed, now.

As for any banter as to if/when this could/should have been addressed previous to this point, such that perhaps Brown took a different path with the team, or the team had gotten better value by dishing him before he starting making Troubled HIgh Performer Headlines, you're simply speculating. I do not recall a bevy of threads asking for Brown to be traded prior to this offseason. We simply do not know what or how bad things may have been.

 

The Steelers lost in terms of talent and they lost in future dealings with other players. The rest is just excuses.

 

If you really want to be philosophical about this situation than you have to accept that there was no win in this situation to be had. Brown may have got the contract he wanted, but as it plays out, you can see he has lost all credibility. Essentially, the price Brown paid is pretty hefty, and I believe in time he will realize just how much. The Steelers lost a great talent with little return. Once you accept there was no win you can acknowledge the Steelers did the only thing they could. Brown is a great talent, but in the NFL great players come and go and teams move on. I would say over the years, the Steelers have been pretty successful at moving on. They will move on from Brown and recover. Brown may never recover from the loss of credibility. Even if he continues to be great, no one will ever look at him the same. Who really is the winner here?

 

Add in that AB turned down a trade to the Bills which didn't help the Steelers as far as value and the fact that it was obvious that AB wanted more money which could also turn teams off that were already up against the cap.

I was not happy with the value the Steelers got for him but AB was holding all the power and the Steelers were left with very little options. Heck the Raiders even said they were out cause they weren't going to meet what the Steelers wanted but when the price dropped they got back in........that says it all!

 

Speaking of talent is a pejorative and short-sighted approach in this situation. I dont believe the team's overall talent would have been improved had Brown been forced to stay with the team. Those who feel otherwise are looking to the past, IMHO.

And they did not lose face with future players if they showed that in an offseason of rebuke they would be willing to ship said player off for what many might feel was less than market value in return.

The rest is, as I said previously, speculation. Or, to use your term, "excuses."

 

The foreshadowing is already there, this trade is going to bite the Raiders in the ass. If anyone thinks he's going to change his ways, they're fooling themselves. He's going to be trouble. He's going to pull the same sh*t he pulled in Pittsburgh and the financial ramifications of Oakland moving from him are going to be far worse than what Pittsburgh had to suffer through. The Raiders WILL regret trading for him, sooner rather than later. It's coming, grab your popcorn.

 

Anybody that responds to his tweets or post is just adding fuel to his ego. Ignore the SOB.

 

They gave Brown exactly what he wanted. They caved. They showed that they will cave if a player just stands up to them. Maybe if they had moved him before it became so clear that he wanted out, that would have saved face for them, but that isn't how it went. They even had to settle for an offer that wasn't the best because he managed to **** up the trade with the Bills.

It's not speculation. It's reality. They were beaten badly.

 

The trade wasn't the mistake for the Raiders. They added an elite talent for a 3 and a 5. You have to take that shot. The problem is the new contract. That could definitely come back to bite them in the ass. It is far from the guarantee y'all make it out to be.

 

Okay, it's obvious you're stuck in your way of thinking on this one, which, given some of the different lines you've taken, I fail to grasp.

But I'll continue to defer to my own viewpoint, which is that the Steelers weren't "beaten badly" by anyone. Players have, for years, become discontented for one reason or another. Sometimes during a FA year, others not. There are holdouts; there are trade demands.

It's purely on the part of the player to conduct his business however he likes, some obviously less "professionally"as others (with respect to his current teammates, coaches, business owners, etc.) in the eyes of a fan, but when he openly creates a disruption as Brown did this year it leaves a GM little option for the overall well-being of the club.

But that doesn't necessarily equate to a win/loss, more a reality. The Steelers couldnt keep him. As an outside GM, I'd sure not be giving up the farm for a 30 year-old WR showing significant issues with handling himself on the field, locker room, and (as our world today has turned) with social media - no matter what his talent on the field. His outside influences are beginning to impede his on-field contributions.

And Brown? Perhaps you call him a winner for not only getting out of Pittsburgh, but scoring more guaranteed money. But as his recent shot at Smith-Schuster shows, he's still not happy.

Sorry, I dont see clear-cut winners/losers here. Just another turn of the globe in sports entertainment.

 

When the season ended, they wanted to keep him. He forced his way out. He wanted more money and knew they wouldn't give it to him, so the manipulated them into trading him. Hurting his trade value also likely helped him get more money. Teams have limited resources. If they have to pay a big price in the trade, they wouldn't be as likely to pay the player big money, too.

Accept it, gentlemen. The Steelers got their asses kicked.

 

You are certainly welcome to continue to be wrong. Brown got everything he wanted. That it still doesn't make him happy doesn't mean he didn't win.

The Steelers are significantly weaker than they were last season and they added evidence to the notion that players can easily force their way out of town if they want more money. It is a terrible precedent to set.

I know some of you don't like accepting that Brown beat the Steelers so badly, but you really should try facing things more honestly.

 

Why is this a competition? Who gives a rat's a..?

 

By the time the season ended I believe the damage was already done.
AB definitely got what he wanted and definitely held the Steelers over a barrel.
I just don’t know what else the Steelers could have done at that point. No way you can bring him back in the locker room. No way you can just sit him at home and pay him. They got the best compensation they could based on the situation.

Brown definitely got the better end of the deal, but the Steelers didn’t totally lose out either. They got rid of somebody who buy most accounts was the locker room problem for a while. They made their locker room better for this coming season and we don’t have to worry about big ben forcing the ball the somebody in triple coverage just so they won’t whine and complain.
JMO

 

No, you'll have Roethlisberger forcing the ball into coverage because nobody is open more often.

Actually, they could have brought him back. Suspend him if and when he acts up. They were taking the cap hit either way. Brown has backed down before. Make him either do it again or he can sabotage his own career. The alternative is being open to any star player pulling the exact same crap if he doesn't like his contract.

Rooney made this harder by saying early on that it would be difficult for Brown to return. That was a mistake. The moment it all started, Brown's agent should have gotten a message from the team that his client needs to keep his mouth shut or there would be no trade. And if he violated that, and he would have, the trade is off the table.

The Steelers need to stop rolling over every time a player pulls the equivalent of a toddler sticking his fingers in his ears, screaming and stomping his feet until he gets his way.

Colbert also could have avoided that idiotic comment about Roethlisberger being the adult and the rest of the team being kids.

 

There’s a difference between taking a cap hit and actually having to pay someone a salary to sit home. Maybe they could have fined him?
Yeah Colbert and the Rooney’s should have kept things quiet, but that’s kinda my point. Considering how bad the relationship had gotten I felt they had to move on.
Plus do we really need the distraction that AB being on the team and sitting out or suspended would have caused?

I appreciate your take on the situation and I think you make some valid points that I agree with.