The New England Patriots were reportedly one of the teams in on the Antonio Browns sweepstakes and offered much more than what the Pittsburgh Steelers ended up getting from the Oakland Raiders.
According to Ian Rapoport, who spoke on the matter Monday morning on NFL Network, the Patriots offered the Steelers a second- and fourth-round pick for Brown. Ultimately, the Steelers rejected that offer, taking a third- and fifth-round pick from Oakland, instead.
According to @RapSheet the #Steelers rejected a deal with the #Patriots, who offered a 2nd and 4th round pick
Instead, of course, they settled for a 3rd and 5th to send @ab84 to the #Raiders
— Sportsnaut (@Sportsnaut) March 11, 2019
In no way is this a shocking revelation. Pittsburgh had been rumored to be against sending Brown to any true rival. Additionally, from the Steelers’ perspecitve, sending him to New England would have been the equivalent sending a problem employee on an all-expenses-paid vacation to a luxury island.
Still, it’s not hard to imagine how good the Tom Brady/Antonio Brown dynamic could have been for a short while, if the Steelers had really been all about looking ahead to the future.