Antonio Brown traded to Raiders, will become highest paid receiver in league

PITTSBURGH — UPDATE 5:39 p.m. 3/13/19 - The Steelers confirmed Wednesday that the team traded wide receiver Antonio Brown to the Oakland Raiders in exchange for a third and fifth round draft pick in the upcoming 2019 NFL Draft.

ORIGINAL STORY - Antonio Brown has been traded to the Oakland Raiders, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The trade, which Brown seemed to have confirmed on his own Instagram, will see the Raiders signing Brown for a deal which will make him the highest paid receiver in the National Football League.

In return, the Pittsburgh Steelers will get a pick in each of the third and fifth rounds.

Before turning into a 7-time Pro Bowl selection, Brown was taken by the Steelers in the sixth round, 195 overall, in the 2010 NFL Draft. Since then he’s become one of the most prolific wide receivers in NFL history.

Brown became the first player to record more than 100 catches in six straight seasons, while piling up more receptions (821), receiving yards (11,040) and receiving touchdowns (74) since 2011 than anyone in the NFL.

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Antonio Brown has been named a First-team All Pro four times in his career (2014-2017) but there have been just as many distractions off the field that has led to this divorce with the Steelers.

Brown has three years remaining on his current deal, with scheduled base salaries of $12.6 million in 2019, $11.3 million in 2020 and $12.5 million in 2021, but he has no guaranteed money remaining on the contract.

Brown, who turns 31 in July, grew frustrated with the Steelers organization this past season and failed to show up for a workday in Week 17 leading to his benching for the season finale.

Sunday afternoon, Steelers teammate JuJu Smith-Schuster took to Twitter saying, "I'm Ready..."

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