Several front office personnel told Jeremy Fowler last week that The Antonio Brown Situation™–and the means by which the Pittsburgh Steelers chose to resolve it—caused them concern, wondering if a precedent had not been set that would allow other high-profile players to essentially treat themselves as unrestricted free agents with several years remaining on their contracts.
While Fowler’s sources seemed to sympathize with the predicament that Brown had put the team in, some noted that they had other options available to them outside of trading him away, and another described the decision as uncharacteristic of the franchise.