'Interest Has Grown' Pittsburgh Steelers General Manager Talks Antonio Brown Trade And Offseason Plan At NFL Combine
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INDIANAPOLIS (KDKA) -- As the NFL offseason continues to heat up, General Manager Kevin Colbert spoke to the media ahead of this week's NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The biggest topic of conversation surrounded Antonio Brown and the current trade proposals the Steelers are negotiating. Colbert once again said the Steelers will only deal Brown if there is enough compensation to counter the loss of Brown as a player.
"There will be no fire sale for Antonio Brown. GM Kevin Colbert calls him "one of the best players in the NFL" and says if he's traded, #Steelers better "have the compensation justified in moving that caliber player."
"Colbert on AB: "If you take a player like that off your team, you better have a significant replacement."
"We're always going to look at Antonio Brown as a great player," Colbert said. "If we don't trade Antonio, he's going to be back with us. We can't say what will happen down the road. The one thing that doesn't change is Antonio Brown's value, not only to the NFL but the Steelers."
The GM said that interest has grown in the Antonio Brown sweepstakes. Last week, Colbert said at least three teams were asking about Brown, and most recently reports say at least five teams are asking about the star wide receiver. Colbert wants to trade Brown to a team that would not face Pittsburgh a lot, but realizes that the team that offers the best will win the race.
"Ideally you'll like to trade him to someone you'd never play. But if a team comes through with the best compensation you have to weigh that."
"Everything is "very preliminary" with Brown. Colbert added he thinks there will be a change coming out of the Combine."
Colbert said he did not agree with the perception of drama that surrounds the organization at the moment.
"I don't believe there was drama in our locker room," Colbert said. "I have a complete disagreement with anything that says our locker room was anything but functional"
The GM also defended his comments about quarterback Ben Roethlisberger from last week.
"Colbert: "The '52 kids comment,' if anyone was there they understood what I was saying. What I was referencing is Ben Roehtlisberger is the only player on our roster who has won a Super Bowl."