The Oakland Raiders were rumored to be in the running for Antonio Brown. When the disgruntled receiver finally landed with the Silver and Black, one wondered if it was the end or beginning of more drama for the NFL's ultimate diva.
In all honesty, it could be a lot or a little of both.
AB does a lot for the Raiders. He’s a game-changer who can make close losses in 2018 wins in 2019 and beyond.
He also changes the way fans and the sports media view Jon Gruden and his team moving forward. Brown does not just make Oakland a curious watch next season, he makes them a contender in the AFC West.
One thing worth remembering is that the Raiders are also a team with one foot out the door. A vote by the Coliseum Stadium Authority happens this week. If that deal fails, it's anybody's guess where the team plays home games in 2019. Longtime fans in Oakland would love one last home slate where Brown is the name attraction.
For those who were critical of Gruden after the trades of Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper, all is forgiven. At the time, Mack going to the Chicago Bears looked to be a white flag of surrender in the Bay Bay Area before Oakland headed to greener pastures in Las Vegas. When they shipped Cooper to the Dallas Cowboys, it looked to be a complete house cleaning.
But this isn't just about selling seats in Oakland or Vegas. The criticism of the Mack and Cooper deals, viewed as a master reset before changing cities, has a much different feel now. Antonio Brown came relatively cheap, and the Raiders still have their draft capital in 2019.
Brown is a move that fundamentally changes the Raiders and the AFC West. If they continue with Derek Carr, which is still anyone's guess, the quarterback position gets both more attractive and more challenging with a head case like AB.
The conventional wisdom has been 2019 was a matter of process. The Raiders would ride things out in the East Bay then begin the process of being competitive down the road once settled in Las Vegas.
Not now.
Signing Brown shouldn't be seen as a novelty. A name brand only to sell seats in Vegas as the team looks to fill a new stadium. He does, in contrast, legitimize what Gruden has said and is doing. As much as trading Mack and Cooper was ridiculed, the Brown deal looks to be just the opposite. Both trades brought with them first round picks, and with AB only costing the Raiders a third and a fifth in the 2019 NFL Draft, Oakland is poised to remake the soon to be Las Vegas Raiders as soon as this April.
If Jon Gruden was a laughing stock last season, he's not heading into the next one. He has the organization painting with some seriously broad strokes before heading out of town.
Brown is a serious diva with serious NFL credentials. He has seven Pro Bowls to his name, and looks to be on a trajectory for Canton, Ohio. In the meantime, the circus that is Antonio Brown will fit nicely into the Black Hole in Oakland, then settle comfortably just off the Las Vegas Strip this time next season.
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