The Antonio Brown to the Buffalo Bills trade deal reportedly fell through because of the wide receiver's contract requests.
Brown was dealt to the Oakland Raiders on Saturday night after seemingly being set to join the Bills the day before.
And while there has been plenty of speculation as to why he didn't wind up in Buffalo, it appears that the main reason was due to contract specifics, according to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer:
Then, Buffalo’s involvement crystallized everything. Trade compensation wasn’t done in that case. But it was close enough—“in the ballpark,” one source said—to where the Steelers granted the Bills permission to talk with agent Drew Rosenhaus. Buffalo wasn’t Brown’s preferred destination, but his desire to have his deal redone with new money and guarantees really put the brakes on the trade.
That was the crux of it. The Bills were very much under the impression that if they could appease Brown monetarily, he’d come to Buffalo.
The Raiders decided to give Brown the contract that he wanted, but it makes sense why teams like the Bills would be hesitant to put those types of guarantees in a deal.
Obviously, the Bills could have used a star receiver like Brown, especially considering that they will be focusing on giving Josh Allen plenty of weapons heading into next season.
But again, given what Brown wanted, perhaps Bills fans shouldn't be all that upset that he's heading elsewhere.
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