Steelers say 'interest has grown' in Antonio Brown trade talks
INDIANAPOLIS — The last time Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert spoke publicly prior to this year’s NFL scouting combine, he mentioned that three teams had shown interest in mercurial star receiver Antonio Brown.
Speaking before a throng of reporters on Wednesday, Colbert provided an update.
“I would say that interest has grown,” the GM said.
And many teams — including those in the AFC, where the Steelers play — remain potential landing spots.
“Ideally, you’d want to trade him to somebody you’ll never play, but you can’t do that because in order to get to the Super Bowl, you have to play him anyway,” Colbert said in response to a hypothetical. “The less you are playing him, the better. But if a team you play twice a year comes through with the best compensation, you have to weigh all that, and we haven’t eliminated that at all.”
Colbert also left the door open for Brown’s return to Pittsburgh, which was surprising considering Brown and team owner Art Rooney II have already stated publicly in recent weeks that it’s best for both parties to move on.
Brown used those exact words in a tweet in which he posed for a photo with Rooney after they spoke about the issue.
“Antonio asked us if he could post a picture with Mr. Rooney and share his feelings about that,” Colbert said. “That was a great statement by him that was not mandated by anybody but him, so to me, that’s an indication of where he really is. All the other stuff … he’s a great player, he’s a huge contributor to us, and he will be if he continues with us or wherever he goes. He’s a great player.”
By complimenting Brown and leaving open the possibility of a return, Colbert may be trying to let interested teams know the Steelers don’t have to trade him, and thus, won’t be giving away a 30-year-old who has been one of the NFL’s most prolific receivers over the past decade.
“We’re always going to look at Antonio Brown as a great player, a great contributor, and if there’s something else out there that can offset [trading him away], well good,” Colbert said. “If not, then we’ll look at how — if we don’t trade Antonio and he’s going to be back with us — what may be the benefits and what may be the drawbacks of that. We’re always going to balance that out.”
Regardless, Colbert expects talks to keep heating up at the combine, where general managers, coaches and front-office executives congregate yearly to evaluate draft prospects and conduct business.
And the way he explained this sure sounded like a man making it clear that he had a genuine asset in Antonio Brown, and that teams interested in acquiring said asset better come correct.
“As you come out of the combine, different teams have different feelings about possibilities of not only a trade, but what they might be able to draft, and that can go positively or negatively,” Colbert said. “But one thing that doesn’t change is Antonio Brown’s value, not only to the National Football League, but the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
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