The Pittsburgh Steelers just traded star wide receiver Antonio Brown to the Oakland Raiders in exchange for a third-round draft pick and a fifth-rounder, ending Brown's nine-year tenure with the franchise.
Brown asked out of Pittsburgh following a dispute with the team late in the season that resulted in the wideout getting benched for the Steelers' season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Brown's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, says that Brown's situation should serve as an example to players who don't think they have all that much power in the NFL:
“We had a client who decided that he didn’t want to be with a given team and we were able to find a more desirable scenario and work out a new deal despite having three years left on the contract and not having to add more years,” Rosenhaus told Peter King of NBC Sports. “What I hope it does is maybe bring some more balance. There aren’t many players like Antonio Brown but perhaps—and I’m not suggesting that everybody go out and try to renegotiate their deal or ask for a trade—but I hope it gives players more leverage throughout the league. I hope it gives agents more confidence that they can affect something in a way that can make a positive change for their clients.”
Let's also remember that the Steelers actually had a deal done to send Brown to the Buffalo Bills, but Brown killed the trade at the last minute because he did not want to go to Buffalo.
So, that's just another example of how much leverage star players have in today's game.
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