AP Photo/Don Wright
Antonio Brown might be ruining his own chances at joining a new team in the 2019 NFL offseason.
- Pittsburgh Steelers superstar wide receiver Antonio Brown is demanding a trade ahead of the 2019 season.
- Brown posted a lengthy video to Instagram Live on Monday detailing his demands for his future team.
- NFL insiders voiced concern that Brown's social media habits could be rubbing teams the wrong way.
Antonio Brown is making his demands known.
The Pittsburgh Steelers superstar wide receiver has been rather vocal about his desire to leave the team, and on Monday, brought his looming move even more to the forefront, posting a lengthy video to Instagram Live in which he worked out on an elliptical while listing his trade demands.
"If your squad want to win, and your squad want a hungry wide receiver who's the best in the whole world, someone hit my phone," Brown said. "Tell 'em I ain't doing no unguaranteeds, I ain't even gonna play myself no more for this NFL - you heard? I think I've done everything. What y'all think? What's left for me to do? Win the Super Bowl? Gotta be the right team for that, right?"
Brown was sure to emphasize that he would be looking for guaranteed money.
"Hey, if your team got guaranteed money, tell 'em call me. AB can't do no more unguaranteeds. So we clear. I want y'all to be clear and understand something - this is not a game, people. This is not for show. This is not to be cool. This is really to inspire you that, yo, no one can determine your destination but you."
Brown's most direct comments happen at around the 4:40 mark in the video below.
While Brown continues to court teams to trade for him over social media, some NFL insiders believe his actions are working against his interests.
"Being prolific on the football field helps your case with teams," said ESPN's Adam Schefter on "Get Up!" on Tuesday morning. "Being prolific on social media is not something that a lot of teams really like or enjoy hearing about. I think the more he talks, the more he's on social media, the more certain teams are scared off."
Brown is still signed to the Steelers for the next two seasons, meaning he'd need a team to trade for him to get out of Pittsburgh. But if Schefter is correct and his social media musings are seen as a problem across the league, teams might be less inclined to offer up a draft pick to bring Brown to their city.
There's still plenty of time before the 2019 season kicks off, so neither the Steelers nor the rest of the league needs to rush to any decisions yet, but if Brown does wish to get a deal done, it might be in his best interests to step away from Instagram for a bit.
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