5 reasons the Raiders trade for Antonio Brown was terrible

3. His attitude could blow up the locker room

Blaming Brown for 100% of the issues in the Steelers locker room is unfair. Assuming he had a hand in Mike Tomlin’s litany of headaches during the 2018 season is a certainty. There’s at least a possibility that is bad behavior is going to infect his new team.

We’d feel much better about Brown moving to a veteran laden franchise. Gruden thinks of himself as a strong head coach, but a player of Brown’s ilk is much more likely to be effectively policed by his peers. The fact that the Raiders have traded away most of their older players during Gruden’s tenures means there aren’t many ready-made role models for Brown in Oakland.

At the very least, the Raiders should have played the potential of a locker room issue up to drive the Steelers’ asking price down. Quite a few other teams clearly chose to stay away from the talented wideout due to his issues with teammates in Pittsburgh. Instead, Gruden went out and praised Brown publicly for his terrific work ethic.

Remember, the Steelers are in a hurry to trade away one of the most productive wide receivers in football. They didn’t come to that conclusion lightly. Tomlin and his front office believe that dealing Brown will serve as addition by subtraction. There’s a solid chance he’ll repeat his antics in Oakland.