Agree with the trade or not, Kevin Colbert believes shipping Antonio Brown to the Oakland Raiders will ultimately be beneficial for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In his first public comments since the trade, made official a little while ago with the start of the new league year, explained why he dealt Brown for third and fifth round selections.
“Well again, when we had our discussions with Antonio and his representation, Drew Rosenhaus, we talked about we were willing to look into making a trade, but we were specific that the trade would only be made if we felt it was beneficial to the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Colbert told Matthews via the team site. “When we were able to get a third round pick and a fifth round pick, particularly where those picks were, the third and fifth picks put together, gives us four picks in the top 83 when we include our own third round pick. And it gives us ten picks overall in a draft that we think is a draft that’s beneficial to have as many picks you can get.”
The Raiders picks are high in their round. For example, the third round pick, #66 overall, is the second selection of the third round, making it a quasi-low second round selection. The 5th round pick is the third selection of the round.
Should Pittsburgh hold onto all four of those picks, and yes, trades are possible, it’ll be the first time they’ve had four selections in the top 83 since 2000, Colbert’s first year running the team. He turned those picks into: Plaxico Burress, Marvel Smith, Kendrick Clancey, and Hank Poteat, overall a good group of four.
Colbert confirmed the report of a “Friday deadline” for teams to submit offers by, giving the Steelers time to evaluate and make a final decision.
“We requested that those offers be made by last Friday so we could look at them, compare them, and ultimately decide which one would be best.”
He also noted the possibility of keeping Brown if they didn’t get the right deal though the odds of that feasibly happening were basically zero. While it’s tough to see the Steelers get so little in return, especially compared to the Odell Beckham Jr. trade, netting a first, third, and player, the circumstances were obviously different and the lack of leverage Pittsburgh had greatly impacted their return.
