The Pittsburgh Steelers traded star wide receiver Antonio Brown to the Oakland Raiders earlier this week in a deal that may very well shift the balance of power in the AFC. On Wednesday, as Brown was introduced as a Raider for the first time, Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert released a statement on the blockbuster move:

Obviously, this is a very diplomatic statement by Colbert, as the Steelers did not trade Brown to improve on the field in 2019. They dealt him because of locker room issues.

Let's face it: Brown remains one of the best players in football. He is coming off of a season in which he hauled in 104 receptions for 1,297 yards and a league-leading 15 touchdowns en route to his sixth straight Pro Bowl appearance.

Overall, Brown has made seven Pro Bowls while earning four First-Team All-Pro selections, all of that coming as a member of the Steelers, who drafted him in the sixth round back in 2010.

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However, the 30-year-old's antics finally began wearing thin in Pittsburgh.

Things reached a boiling point in the week leading up to the season finale, when Brown got into a heated dispute with Ben Roethlisberger that apparently ended in him throwing a football at the quarterback.

Brown then refused to practice, complained of knee pain but refused to go for an MRI and then went AWOL on the team before being consequently benched by head coach Mike Tomlin for the Steelers' Week 17 game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Pittsburgh went 9-6-1 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2013.