Indianapolis Colts: Should Antonio Brown trade be in the cards?
With Antonio Brown making it clear he wants out of Pittsburgh, should the Indianapolis Colts be making a run at the star wide receiver? Or should they stay away from the drama be brings?
On Tuesday afternoon, news broke that Pittsburgh Steelers star wide receiver Antonio Brown officially notified the team that he wanted to be traded or released to get out of Pittsburgh. Brown all but confirmed the reports with a tweet signaling that he has played his last season in Pittsburgh and will be moving on to a new team in 2019.
Brown is one of the leagues most dominant receivers, and one of the best we have seen this decade. Over the last six seasons, Brown has recorded at least 1,200 yards receiving in each season and totaled 67 touchdown catches in those six seasons.
He also has earned a trip to the Pro Bowl in each of those seasons as well as earning four First Team All-Pro selections. There has been no one on Browns level in those six years, and now a new team has a chance to add a player of Brown’s caliber to their roster.
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Whichever team trades for Brown will need to have a decent amount of cap space as Brown is owed an average of $12.14 million the next three seasons. The Indianapolis Colts, of course, have the most cap space going into next season, which means money would be no issue, and they likely have the required draft capital to trade for Brown. But does that mean the Colts should pursue him?
It is no shock that Brown would instantly make this one of the leagues most dangerous offenses. Adding Brown to a core of Andrew Luck, Marlon Mack, T.Y. Hilton, Eric Ebron and Jack Doyle would make it nearly unstoppable. The Colts also have a clear need for an “X” wide receiver, a role Brown could obviously fill. Talent wise, the Colts would be dumb not to pursue him. However, Brown brings more than talent with him.
All of last year, Antonio Brown filled the news with drama, weather it was his speeding incident, his alleged domestic violence case, or when he sat out Week 17 over an alleged dispute with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, Brown continues to be in the news for all the wrong reasons.
The Colts are building up something great, with no drama and all football. Adding Brown to the Colts locker room could cause the same headlines as we saw in Pittsburgh.
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Despite the talent Brown would bring the Colts offense, the constant off the field issues are not worth it for the Colts. The Colts made it to the playoffs last year without a guy like Brown and, despite still needing a complement to Hilton, the Colts hold plenty of ammo to add someone in the draft. The Colts would be happy to have his talent, but they should stay away from trading for Brown.