Well, cross the Cardinals off the list of potential Antonio Brown destinations.
Receiver Larry Fitzgerald, the team’s elder statesman and one of the greatest receivers in NFL history, has weighed in on the Antonio Brown situation while speaking on a panel at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.
“Mr. Big Chest is a good friend of mine, but I don’t think he’s going about it the right way personally,” Fitzgerald said when asked point-blank by the moderator about Brown. “To be able to play with an all-time quarterback like he’s able to play with, I don’t think he understands how good he has it. It can get tough out there. It can get tough out there.”
The audience reacted audibly to Fitzgerald’s remarks, and applauded when he finished.
Brown’s career began with Roethlisberger serving a four-game suspension, but Roethlisberger has been the starter throughout Brown’s career. Fitzgerald has had a largely-revolving door of quarterbacks since arriving in the NFL 15 years ago, from Josh McCown to Shaun King to John Navarre to Kurt Warner to Matt Leinart to Derek Anderson to John Skelton to Max Hall to Kevin Kolb to Ryan Lindley to Brian Hoyer to Carson Palmer to Drew Stanton to Blaine Gabbert to Sam Bradford to Josh Rosen. How much better would Fitzgerald have been if Fitzgerald, drafted in the same year as Roethlisberger, had ended up with a franchise quarterback for most of his career?
Brown, if he’s traded, is about to find out what it’s like to not have Roethlisberger as a quarterback. While Brown’s next quarterback may be more diplomatic, he also will not be nearly as skilled. Which could cause many to realize that, without Ben, Brown isn’t nearly as skilled, either.