By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
Technically the 2019 NFL offseason won’t begin until March 13, or at least until the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, New Orleans Saints or Los Angeles Rams hoist the Lombardi Trophy on Feb. 3 at Super Bowl LII.
Still, there’s an intriguing storyline growing as the NFL and Buffalo Bills head toward the 2019 offseason. It’s not often that All-Pro talents are available. Wide receiver Antonio Brown will be one of those this offseason.
It just so happens that Brown could be available at the ideal time for the Bills to step up to the plate and take a swing at the soon-to-be former Pittsburgh Steelers’ playmaker. Steelers owner Art Rooney II said last week that it’s tough to image Brown being with the team in the future.
Enter the Bills into trade discussions?
Here are six reasons why the Bills should seriously consider landing Brown:
The ammo is there
According to early reports, the Steelers could be seeking a first-round pick for Brown’s services. Maybe more. That makes sense. He’s a four-time first-team All-Pro wide receiver. Just take a look at his stats. Aside from 2012 when he was limited to 13 games and his rookie season, Brown has easily surpassed 1,000-yards in each season of his career. In nine seasons he has 11,207 yards via 837 catches.
With that in mind, the Bills certainly have the ammo to make a move. Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane has previously said he won’t be in the market of trading first-round picks, but if the Bills can knock the price down to a second or third rounder with some other picks, that could be an option. Overall, Buffalo has 10 draft picks at the 2019 NFL Draft. Buffalo has an extra pick in the fourth, fifth and seventh rounds. In addition, the Bills haven’t been afraid to send players the other way in trades. Shaq Lawson? LeSean McCoy? There’s ammo in the Bills’ arsenal for a trade.
Contract big, but not long
It’s a big factor in Buffalo’s upcoming offseason: Their salary cap. Over the past few seasons, the Bills have had to make the most out of less because the Beane and Sean McDermott duo decided to get all their “dead cap” off the books in order to have a lot of money to spend once 2019 comes around. Well, here we are, and the Bills still have near $84 million in salary cap space, according to Spotrac. The third-most in the NFL.
Brown’s salary cap hits over the next few season are pretty big. Here’s how Spotrac laid it out:
If traded prior to March 17th, the deal will be 3 years, $38.9M, including cash & cap figures of $15.125M, $11.3M, & $12.5M through 2021.
If traded after March 17th, the deal will be 3 years, $36.425M, including cash & cap figures of $12.625M, $11.3M, & $12.5M through 2021.
Large hits? Yes. Do-able hits for the Bills? Also yes. If Buffalo subtracted $13 million from their cap of near $84 million, they’d go down to somewhere near $71 million in cap space. The Bills would still have the sixth-most salary cap space, well above the league average of $38 million. Plenty of room to add to the offensive line and other areas of concern on Buffalo’s roster. If you have the salary cap space, why wouldn’t you spend it? Plus, Brown’s only under contract for three more seasons. There’s reason to believe he’ll still produce as a solid level for that long.
Steelers’ problems not only AB
There’s reason why Pittsburgh is going to rid themselves of Brown. Off the field, he’s a less-than-ideal player. While we can joke about the “Process” and “Culture” that McDermott raves about all we want, to an extent, it is, in fact, real. The Steelers’ lack of it is evident, too.
While Brown has held out for dollars and as of recently just not shown up to practice, causing him to be an inactive player in his team’s season finale game in 2018, there’s a lot of loose cannons in Pittsburgh. Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger hasn’t been without his problems, he even brought down Brown recently when he criticized Brown in a radio interview this season. Then there’s Le’Veon Bell, who held out this season and his teammates criticized him for it. Typically you’d get a “that’s the business side of things” response from teammates. Not in Pittsburgh.
And since the Bills have had the “McBeane” era, let’s consider the way they’ve handled problems. From trading guys like Marcell Dareus, Ron Darby and Sammy Watkins, to the Kelvin Benjamin episode, to Nathan Peterman’s on-field actions to Shady McCoy’s off-field situations… they’ve all been handled relatively well. McDermott might be just the type of guy to reel in a player like Brown.
Allen needs playmakers
Simply put, Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen needs to improve heading into his second season and there’s reason to believe he will after his final six games of the 2018 season which saw him lead the Bills to a 3-3 record. Having said that, the Bills need to desperately improve around Allen as well and the idea of Brown with Allen is an attractive option.
Getting deeper into Brown’s stats, the 5-foot-10 wide out has had six-straight, 1,000-yard seasons. He’s also hauled in 100-plus catches in each of those seasons with double-digit touchdown totals in four of the six. In 2017 and 2014, he led the NFL in receiving. Plus there’s just some things you can’t put a number on, like the highlight reel grabs Brown has in his career.
A No. 1 wide receiver is rarely ever on the market. A player of Brown’s caliber isn’t on the market often, or maybe ever.
Makes those around him better
With Buffalo’s desperate need for playmakers in mind, they also need someone who can make those around him, better. That’s Brown.
Zay Jones and Robert Foster had decent seasons in 2018. Jones has improved in his two years and Foster came out of nowhere. Still, it doesn’t appear either will grow into a top-flight target. Few rarely do. However, if Buffalo acquired one in Brown, teams would have no choice on who to guard. It would be Brown. That would loosen things up for both Jones and Foster to continue to shine, perhaps even brighter. That same thing could be said for the rushing attack, too.
In addition, Brown would hands down be the best veteran presence the Bills have had around their young receivers, talent wise. Kelvin Benjamin was a far cry from the No. 1 the Bills hoped he’d be and while Deonte Thompson is a veteran and likable guy, he’s no AB.
National spotlight
Buffalo is a hard working, blue collar town who don’t need no attention from those folks at ESPN or anywhere else.
But if the Bills did grab Brown, they would instantly be in the national spotlight, which deep down, everybody would love. The Bills really only get any national attention for Allen, currently. If Brown came to Buffalo, think of the hoopla that was Rex Ryan, it might be even larger than that, combined with Allen attention. Brown is a known commodity and if the Bills grabbed him, the rest of the NFL would be on notice that Buffalo wants back in the playoffs, and maybe more.