The Raiders were rolling out the red carpet for Antonio Brown.
As you might imagine, the Steelers took a more low-key approach.
After announcing that they had acquired third- and fifth-round picks (66th and 141st overall) for one of the best players in football, they were emphasizing the future.
“We have traded Antonio Brown to the Oakland Raiders,” General Manager Kevin Colbert said in a statement from the team. “We believe the compensation, which will now give us four picks in the first 83 selections and 10 overall in the upcoming NFL Draft can benefit our efforts to improve our team in 2019 and beyond.
“Antonio remains one of the best players in the National Football League, but as we believe, this move was in the best interest of the Pittsburgh Steelers. We wish Antonio all the best the rest of his career.”
Stressing the rebuilding of a receiving corps is normal, but the Steelers have traditionally been able to backfill at the position — such as when they used a sixth-round pick in 2010 to take a kid from Central Michigan named Antonio Brown.
