Following months of chatter trade chatter surrounding veteran wide receiver Martavis Bryant's future with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the front office finally pulled the trigger on a deal that sent him to the Oakland Raiders on Thursday night in exchange for a 2018 third-round pick.

It was a bit of a surprising move given that the trade conversations had simmered down the last couple of months that gave the appearance that Bryant would at least remain with the Steelers through the final year of his deal in the 2018 campaign. However, head coach Mike Tomlin has stated that the third-round pick for Bryant was simply too good to pass up, according to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk.

“More than anything, they were persistent in the pursuit of him and the value got to a level we couldn’t pass up. Martavis is going into the last year of his contract and to get a third-round pick we felt good about that,” Tomlin said.

Pittsburgh wound up moving around in third round but it helped put them in the position to snag former Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph, who could be groomed to be the eventual replacement for star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. This has helped put the franchise in the position to have a promising player at the position whenever Roethlisberger does decide to step away from the game in the next couple of years.

Meanwhile, this provides Bryant with the fresh start that he has been eying. He could immediately step into a situation in Oakland where he will be relied upon as the lone deep-ball threat that can make big plays down the field. He will be paired alongside wide receivers Amari Cooper and fellow offseason acquisition Jordy Nelson.

It is an element of the offense that the Raiders truly lacked last year and Bryant has shown to have that ability throughout his NFL career that could lead to a breakout 2018 season.