The Pittsburgh Steelers are a mess right now. The storied NFL franchise is as talented as any team in the league right now, but they can't avoid drama and controversy.

At the core of the drama in Pittsburgh right now is superstar wide receiver Antonio Brown and his immediate future with the team. Brown was benched for the season finale in Week 17 and rumors surfaced about his desire to be traded.

One thing that may have prompted this trade request along with being held out the last game of the season was fellow wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster being named the team's MVP, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.

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“He was just frustrated,” said one source. “The MVP vote—it’s those things that set him off. He was unreal in New Orleans, we still lost, and the vote comes out and it’s JuJu. So he shows up for work, he’s not voted MVP, he’s in a bad way, and that carried over into the walkthrough.”

The situation in Pittsburgh seems to be getting worse and worse with Brown seemingly unhappy and potentially ready to move on. If he genuinely wants to leave the team, it could be devastating for the Steelers with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger probably only having a few years left, and the team set to lose running back Le'Veon Bell in free agency during the offseason.

In 15 games this season, Brown caught 104 passes for 1,297 yards and a career-high 15 touchdowns. Even though Smith-Schuster is a star in the making, losing Brown would prove costly for Pittsburgh, especially after missing the playoffs in the 2018 campaign.