Raiders’ Derek Carr gets his wish as Antonio Brown will join Oakland
Antonio Brown is headed to the Oakland Raiders.
The Raiders traded for the former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver for third- and fifth-round picks in the 2019 NFL Draft, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said.
Brown will get a reworked contract, a three-year deal up to $54.125 million and $30.125 million guaranteed money, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Deals cannot be official until the new league year begins on Wednesday.
Brown posted on Instagram late Saturday night an image of him in a Raiders uniform and posted a video of him and Derek Carr at the Pro Bowl saying “love at first sight.”
Just last weekend, Carr told fans he hoped the Raiders would go after him.
Wish granted.
“I would imagine he’s definitely in play,” Carr said March 2 during his third annual Inside the Huddle fan event. “I hope he’s in play. It would be great to add a guy like that to your team, talent like that. I don’t know what it’s going to cost. The contract stuff starts getting in the way and they got to figure out numbers and all that kind of stuff. I don’t really like the business side of football. but I just like adding good players to our football team. If it works out in the business side, I know the locker room will be arms wide open to accepting Antonio.”
Carr was also asked if a team should give up a first-round draft pick to get Brown: “I don’t know if you have to give up a first-round pick, yet. Because I think it would’ve already been done.”
Carr’s father, Rodger, even said that Raiders coach Jon Gruden told him and his wife, Sheryl, that he will get Carr help.
Promise fulfilled.
“I’m going to get him this and some playmakers, just trust me and I love him, I love him,” Rodger Carr recalled Gruden saying.
Brown, a nine-year NFL veteran, complimented Carr, the five-year pro out of Fresno State, after they played together on the 2018 AFC Pro Bowl team.
“He’s special, man,” Brown said. “It’s been an honor catching the ball from him. … He’s a great young quarterback, young champion, and (has) all the fundamentals to be one of the greatest.”
The Raiders have a need at the wide receiver position.
Last season after trading Amari Cooper to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2019 first-round pick, the Raiders finished with Jordy Nelson, Seth Roberts, Keon Hatcher, Marcell Ateman and Dwayne Harris as the receivers.
Despite Carr’s first 4,000-yard season, Nelson was the leader of that group with just 739 yards and three touchdowns.
This story was originally published March 9, 2019 at 10:36 PM with the headline "Raiders’ Derek Carr gets his wish as Antonio Brown will join Oakland."
