Buffalo Bills: Favorable odds for Antonio Brown don’t match reality
By Paul Taylor
The Buffalo Bills are among the betting favorites to trade for seven-time Pro Bowler Antonio Brown, but fans shouldn’t expect it to actually happen.
The Buffalo Bills need help in their passing game. In fact this is an understatement, considering they had the second-fewest passing yards in the NFL last season.
With this in mind, a recent article by Ryan Talbot of New York Upstate will have undoubtedly piqued the interest of Bills fans. Talbot writes that Buffalo has the third-best betting odds, when predicting where Antonio Brown will play in 2019.
That would be the wide receiver who is a seven-time Pro Bowler with seven 1,000-yard seasons in nine NFL seasons. The wide receiver who has twice led the NFL in receptions and receiving yards, as well as being a four-time First-team All-Pro.
Talbot reports that BetDSI Sportsbook has posted updated odds on where Brown will play in Week 1 next season. The only teams listed ahead of the Bills are the San Francisco 49ers and the Indianapolis Colts, who are first and second respectively.
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In theory, this sounds extremely exciting for Bills fans. Who wouldn’t like to have Brown on your team, to help boost the passing game? (As opposed to the Bills, Brown helped the Pittsburgh Steelers total the second-most passing yards in 2018.)
Certainly, the Bills have the cap space to sign the 2010 sixth round draft pick; at the time of posting, they have the fourth-highest estimated cap space among all 32 NFL teams for next season. However, this is a case where fantasy doesn’t necessarily match reality.
From Brown’s perspective, you imagine he wants to be traded to a team which can win now. (He has already mentioned the 49ers and Green Bay Packers as potential destinations.) At 30-years-old, time is running out for him to win an elusive Super Bowl ring.
In this respect, the Bills are nowhere near to being a genuine contender. As general manager Brandon Beane recently wrote to season ticket holders, getting to this point will require time and patience; time and patience which Brown doesn’t have at this point in his career.
From the Bills’ perspective, do they really want to add someone who is renowned for not exactly being a team player? The last thing the team needs, is a potentially disruptive influence.
In addition, as much as the Bills have the cap space, Brown would still take up a huge chunk of it. With three years remaining on his current contract, his cap hit would be $22.165 million, $18.340 million and 19.540 million in 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively.
As for the Steelers themselves, yes they have agreed with Brown that it’s time for both parties to go their separate ways. However, they won’t just give him away.
As per NFL Network‘s Tom Pelissero, Steelers’ general manager Kevin Colbert said if the trade does not benefit the team, they won’t trade the Miami, Florida native. In this respect, the Bills would have to decide how much they’d be willing to give up for him; if the price is too high, it could theoretically be counter-productive.
Ultimately, there is no denying Brown would be a significant upgrade for the Bills and their anemic passing game. However, just because they have favorable odds, it’s arguably not a good idea for fans to actually put any money on the team successfully trading for him.
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What do you make of the betting odds surrounding Brown? Do the Buffalo Bills have a chance of trading for him? More to the point, do you see it as a realistic scenario? Let us know in the comments below.