Oakland Raiders now clear Le’Veon Bell favorites in free agency
The Oakland Raiders have to be the overwhelming favorites to land Le’Veon Bell in free agency after the trade for Antonio Brown.
Antonio Brown is trading his black and gold for silver and black. It may not be much more than 24 hours before we hear of running back Le’Veon Bell doing the same.
If you went to bed early on Saturday to catch some extra sleep in anticipation of Daylight Savings, you probably missed the breaking news of the Raiders acquiring Brown for a pretty hefty price.
The Raiders traded third and fifth-round picks to the Steelers for Brown and gave him a new contract.
Two years ago, the #Steelers gave Antonio Brown a deal worth $17M per year. This new deal takes that and turns it into a deal worth $19.8M per year. Essentially AB took the remaining $38.925M over the next 3 years and turned it into $50.125M... plus $4M incentives to $54.125M.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 10, 2019
This is one of the wildest trades you will see. The Oakland Raiders, who are now being run by the combo of Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden, traded away Amari Cooper and Khalil Mack because they didn’t want to pay them.
I’m not saying Raiders fans shouldn’t be excited about the move to acquire Brown, who will be 31 in July, but why would Oakland so quickly pay him as much money as they are (more than $30 million in new guarantees) and trade valuable draft assets to acquire him, but not even pick up the phone to call Khalil Mack, a true defensive MVP candidate?
The Raiders got a receiver on the wrong side of 30 for draft picks and a huge contract, but wouldn’t pay two of their best players under the age of 30.
Now, the move that makes the most sense is for the Steelers to add Le’Veon Bell. It’s not a guarantee to happen, nor has it been made a spectacle that Brown and Bell want to play together at all costs, but doesn’t it make a ton of sense?
The Raiders are rebuilding their roster and they have money to spend. They also have the allure of playing with a tax-free income in the state of Nevada next year when they move from Oakland to Las Vegas.
That’s going to be attractive for players like Bell who want to get paid above all else.
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The Raiders had nearly $70 million in cap space before the trade for Brown. They have plenty of space to sign another offensive star like Bell to pair with Brown and Derek Carr there in Oakland. We’ll see what happens but this move indicates to me that the next step for Oakland is to go after Bell.