AB to Oakland

[Plank]

Jets also a contender for LeVeon .. not seeing him mentioned anywhere else, so NYJ and BAL, so far ..

[Friction]

So Oakland would not pay Mack, but decided to give AB a raise? That's an interesting segment. I wonder how much of an impact the contract or lack thereof was in buffalo? I know AB just plain did not want to play there most likely, because of location (Vegas/Cali) and not winning, either way. Will be interesting to see how he reacts if he still gets his stats, but the Raiders finish far out of the playoffs.

[dm1129]

Signing a WR over 30 to a rebuild after not signing Mack is all you need to know about this franchise going forward...haha

[dynastyninja]

Mack and AB are completely different here and are not comparable. Mack netted them 2 firsts.

I don't really see why Oakland traded for AB, but comparing his situation to Mack's is silly.

[dm1129]

Mack and AB are completely different here and are not comparable. Mack netted them 2 firsts.

I don't really see why Oakland traded for AB, but comparing his situation to Mack's is silly.

No, it is not silly. Gruden said the team could not afford to sign Mack. Clearly that is not true. The decision making of the Raiders' front office is comical.

[Cameron Giles]

Mack and AB are completely different here and are not comparable. Mack netted them 2 firsts.

I don't really see why Oakland traded for AB, but comparing his situation to Mack's is silly.

No, it is not silly. Gruden said the team could not afford to sign Mack. Clearly that is not true. The decision making of the Raiders' front office is comical.

FWIW, Mack got $60M guaranteed, which is double what Brown got on his new deal. Raiders also got rid of Cooper who would've counted $13.92M towards the cap this upcoming season. The Raiders priorities are weird considering they're supposed to be rebuilding, but financially, I don't think it's comparable.

[Ice]

Mack and AB are completely different here and are not comparable. Mack netted them 2 firsts.

I don't really see why Oakland traded for AB, but comparing his situation to Mack's is silly.

No, it is not silly. Gruden said the team could not afford to sign Mack. Clearly that is not true. The decision making of the Raiders' front office is comical.

Mack's contract was massive. 141 Million with 34 million up front plus his another 7 million in salary in year 1. That is 41 Million year 1.

Cash flow wise that is a lot a coin even for a few owners and the Raider's owners is poor compared to most owners. Brown was guaranteed around 30 million over 3 years but that is different than writing a a check up front for 34 million.

[Phaded]

And while some may question the financial aspect; it may result in them actually making money off this.

The team is staying in Oakland for one more year so they had to make a splash to keep fans interested. They did it with Lynch in 17, then Gruden in 18 and now AB in 19.

Going full tank-mode this year could potentially cost them a lot of money.

Not to mention establishing a new fan base in Vegas.

[dm1129]

Mack and AB are completely different here and are not comparable. Mack netted them 2 firsts.

I don't really see why Oakland traded for AB, but comparing his situation to Mack's is silly.

No, it is not silly. Gruden said the team could not afford to sign Mack. Clearly that is not true. The decision making of the Raiders' front office is comical.

Mack's contract was massive. 141 Million with 34 million up front plus his another 7 million in salary in year 1. That is 41 Million year 1.

Cash flow wise that is a lot a coin even for a few owners and the Raider's owners in poor compared to most owners. Brown was guaranteed around 30 million over 3 years but that is different than writing a a check up front for 34 million.

If you are even half as knowledgeable as you pretend to be, you would know any NFL team can arrange for this without issue.

[Ice]

And while some may question the financial aspect; it may result in them actually making money off this.

The team is staying in Oakland for one more year so they had to make a splash to keep fans interested. They did it with Lynch in 17, then Gruden in 18 and now AB in 19.

Going full tank-mode this year could potentially cost them a lot of money.

Not to mention establishing a new fan base in Vegas.

agree

[Elroypedro]

No, it is not silly. Gruden said the team could not afford to sign Mack. Clearly that is not true. The decision making of the Raiders' front office is comical.

Mack's contract was massive. 141 Million with 34 million up front plus his another 7 million in salary in year 1. That is 41 Million year 1.

Cash flow wise that is a lot a coin even for a few owners and the Raider's owners in poor compared to most owners. Brown was guaranteed around 30 million over 3 years but that is different than writing a a check up front for 34 million.

If you are even half as knowledgeable as you pretend to be, you would know any NFL team can arrange for this without issue.

Yikes. What a statement for someone who isn’t familiar with the situation. The Raiders ownership is cash poor. Everything is paid for in debt. The Vegas move is costing them a ton - in the short term at least. They’ve cut several guys not for strategic football reasons but for cash reasons. The Mack and Cooper deals makes sense in that they got out of massive contracts/upcoming negotiations that would have practically bankrupted the owner(ship) and got more than solid picks in return.

[jetsfan5757]

I don't think anyone will know until Brown is on the field with Carr/Murray that said Carr is a downgrade and the offense was notoriously bad last season. The draft upcoming they need some more weapons on the offensive side. I think he will get plenty of targets but the touchdowns should regress. Better than Buffalo but not as good as staying in Pittsburgh. I think he would fall out of the top 5 WR's in startups but only takes one owner. As far as currently owning him this is better than some other landing spots but not as good as I expected.

Good take. I agree with everything except maybe the last sentence.

Much better than Buffalo, and not sure where else you thought he might go that would be better. Oakland better than Washington and Tennessee (other teams linked to him).

[Oddball456]

I am wondering about all the positive vibes in this thread; are people actually happy he a Raider or happy he isn't a Bill or some other really bad spot? Do people expect AB to be top 5 or top 10 the next couple of years? As a Cooper owner, I would be pretty worried AB turns into a weekly boom / bust player.

Cooper cannot hold a candle to AB talent-wise, though. With no one else on the roster currently (though I would expect another WR or two to be added), I do not think it would be unreasonable to assume an average of double digit weeky targets.

In before A.Brown^2.

You didn't answer any of the questions I posted.

Are the people happy about the Raiders spot happy it is the Raiders or just that it isn't the Bills or some other really bad spot?
Do you think he will still put up top 5 or 10 WR numbers on the Raiders?

[ArrylT]

As a Raiders fan I am happy

(a) to have Antonio Brown
(b) to have him at the cost acquired

I think that Antonio Brown - provided he keeps having the same work ethic & desire will still have at least 2-3 years of pretty safe high end production.

A lot will depend on the exact target volume, but say he gets 150 targets, he seems like a safe bet for a low end WR1 at least. His skill set is not the type that erodes fast & he is the type of player who seems to keep their body in good shape. I am not saying that other players do not care about their body - just that some do the minimum needed, some do above & beyond, and then some (like Tom Brady) are just fanatical about it.

On that scale I feel AB is closer to the Tom Brady side of the equation than the Devante Parker side.

The worst case scenario, assuming a full season, I can see is Michael Crabtree 2015-16 (2 years of high end WR2 low end WR1).

Jon Gruden has had other older wideouts and they have had success with him like

Joey Galloway (3 straight 1000+ yard seasons aged 34-36)
Jerry Rice (1100+ yards aged 39)
Tim Brown (4 straight 1000+ yard seasons aged 32-36)

So as long as Antonio Brown is healthy & ready to play I see no reason yet for concern over production for the next couple of years.

[FantasyFreak]

So Oakland would not pay Mack, but decided to give AB a raise? That's an interesting segment. I wonder how much of an impact the contract or lack thereof was in buffalo? I know AB just plain did not want to play there most likely, because of location (Vegas/Cali) and not winning, either way. Will be interesting to see how he reacts if he still gets his stats, but the Raiders finish far out of the playoffs.

You understand the two contracts are nothing alike, right? Like, not even close.