A.B. TO THE RAIDERS
ALAMEDA, Calif. – The Oakland Raiders agreed on a deal Saturday night to acquire prolific but disgruntled receiver Antonio Brown from the Pittsburgh Steelers and will give him the lucrative new contract he wanted.
A person with direct knowledge of the trade told The Associated Press that the Raiders finalized the deal with the Steelers and will give Brown a new three-year contract worth $50.125 million instead of the $38.925 million he was owed by Pittsburgh. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal can’t be completed until the new league year starts Wednesday.
Pro Football Talk first reported the deal and says Pittsburgh will get third and fifth-round draft picks from Oakland.
The trade makes final what became a very messy and very public divorce between Brown and the team that helped turn the sixth-round pick into arguably the greatest wide receiver of his generation.
It also gives the Raiders a high-profile addition for second-year coach Jon Gruden after trading away two of the team’s biggest stars last year in edge rusher Khalil Mack and receiver Amari Cooper.
