The Buffalo Bills and Oakland Raiders apparently weren't the only teams bidding for Antonio Brown. The Bills were reportedly close to landing Brown before Oakland ultimately secured a deal. But, the New England Patriots were apparently also in on the Brown sweepstakes. In a recording of Brown's podcast, his agent Drew Rosenhaus can be heard talking about New England.
Rosenhaus' comments were recorded on March 5th, and Brown was traded on March 9th.
“The Patriots are in the mix, I put Belichick in touch with Kevin Colbert,” Rosenhaus said, referring to Bill Belichick and the Steelers' general manager. “That's a good development for us that they're now willing to trade you to New England. Now it's a process of New England stepping up,” he continued.
Rosenhaus reveals that the Steelers were apparently comfortable enough sending Brown to their arch-rivals. Normally when big name players get traded, their teams try and trade them away to a team with as little connection to them as possible.
Since both teams have dominated their divisions recently and routinely finished in first, the Patriots and Steelers have played each other in most seasons over the past handful of years.
The Patriots' interest isn't too surprising. New England overhauls their receiving corps on a seemingly yearly basis, and they aren't ever afraid to add big personalities. The Patriots made a huge trade for another big name receiver, Randy Moss, back in the day. Moss would go on to help the Patriots and Tom Brady set records, and that acquisition worked out quite well.
After losing out on Brown, New England opted to replace Chris Hogan and other departing receivers with lesser-known options instead. They signed Maurice Harris from the Redskins, and Bruce Ellington from the Lions. While it wasn't meant to be, it's still fun to imagine what Brown on the Patriots would've been like.
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