Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 3-12-19

Sports
Bucs QB Jameis Winston Calls DeSean Jackson ‘Still One Of The Best Deep-Threats’ In The NFL
JAMEIS WINSTON AND DESEAN JACKSON
Antonio Brown Traded To Raiders For Draft Picks, Receives $50M Contract
ANTONIO BROWN
The long, winding and sometimes confusing Antonio Brown trade saga ended early Sunday morning, as the Pitts- burgh Steelers reportedly agreed to deal the Pro Bowl wide receiver to the Oakland Raiders.
Florio added Brown will receive a new contract as part of the agreement that will pay out $50.125M over the next three seasons, and that his guaranteed cash has gone from $0 to $30.125M. The deal could increase to $54.125M with incentives. This new con- tract now "makes him the NFL's highest paid WR."
The Raiders will send 2019 third- and fifth-round picks to the Steelers.
Teams Were Willing To Offer More Than Raiders For Antonio Brown
Antonio Brown may not have had a no-trade clause in his contract with the Pitts- burgh Steelers, but he still managed to eliminate potential suitors and end up in a place he wants to play.
The Oakland Raiders traded a third- and a fifth- round draft pick to the Steelers for Brown early Sunday morning. While that might seem like a bargain for one of the premier wide receivers in football, other teams actually offered more. However, Brown took those teams out of the running with his contract demands.
The Raiders gave Brown $30M in new guaranteed money over the next three years, and the total value of his deal went from $39M to $50M They were the only team will- ing to make that kind of finan- cial commitment, and Brown likely just threatened to retire if the Steelers traded him to a team that wasn’t.
Brown has put the blame on others for the way his tenure in Pittsburgh ended, but he’s not going to win over any Steel- ers fans after the way he pushed the team around. Had he been willing to play for one of the other interested teams, Pittsburgh would have much more to show for the trade.
Eagles To Trade
There’s no easy way to put it, but the Tampa Bay Bucca- neers had a very disappoint- ing 2018-19 season. Most of the problems lie with the Buccaneers’ defense, but their offense was just as in- consistent despite starting their campaign strong.
Part of Tampa Bay’s offen- sive explosion early last sea- son was thanks to speedy wideout DeSean Jackson, who hauled in three touch- downs and had 100-yard re- ceiving efforts in three of the team’s first four games. How- ever, when quarterback Jameis Winston returned from his four-game suspen- sion, Jackson’s production dipped, having failed to reach the 100-yard mark in each of the remaining regular season contests.
With new head coach Bruce Arians at the helm, drastic changes in the offen- sive roster are all but in- evitable. As such, the 32-year-old Jackson is as- sumed to be one of the first names to go on the chopping block considering his lack of chemistry with Winston.
Despite the situation, Winston still had nothing but praise for his three-time Pro Bowl receiver regardless of their respective fates on the team. Speaking with NFL.com’s Grant Gordon,
the former No. 1 overall pick wasn’t hesitant to express his admiration for Jackson for being a fiery competitor dur- ing their run as teammates.
“...the thing about having a guy like DeSean Jackson; he’s passionate, he wants to win. When you have a guy like that, really winning and losing really separates how he’s going to react. He wants to be an important part in winning football games and he knows that he is a very im- portant piece to winning foot- ball games. So if we were winning, he’s a selfless indi- vidual and he’s fine. But when you’re losing and the guy feels like he’s not taking advantage of, of course he’s going to have something to say. That’s just his make-up.”
Jackson will be wrap- ping up the final year of his three-year deal in Tampa Bay this upcoming season, and it will be interesting to find out what Arians will do with his speedy wideout before the new season kicks off.
It’s worth noting as well that Winston also men- tioned that his new head coach has found more success with possession-centric wide- outs over fast-streakers, meaning Jackson’s career in the Sunshine State could very well be coming to an end.
Michael Bennett is on the move once again.
One year after Philadel- phia acquired the three-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks, the Eagles are poised to deal him to the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
The person requested anonymity because no trans- actions can be officially con- summated until the NFL's new league year begins Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET.
Draft pick compensation for Bennett was still being
MICHAEL BENNETT
"ironed out" between the Ea- gles and Patriots, teams that have collaborated on numer- ous trades over the years (mostly at draft time).
DE Michael Bennett
To Patriots
Cardinals Could Sign Both C. J. Mosley, Terrell Suggs
C. J. MOSLEY AND TERRELL SUGGS
We’re just one day away from March 11th, and the Arizona Cardinals could re- portedly be interested in signing Terrell Suggs and CJ Mosley.
Of the latter trade, CBS Sports is reporting that Mosley might be heading to the fun and sun of Arizona sooner rather than later, es- pecially since many of the fel- low Cardinals believe that he’ll be amongst them sooner rather than later.
But even though Terrell Suggs is someone that the Ravens “definitely wanted back,” his future remains a bit uncertain with the team.
Suggs was drafted by the Ravens with the No. 10 over- all pick in 2003 and has played all 15 of his NFL sea- sons in Baltimore. He had seven sacks last season and 11 the year before, so it’s no surprise teams want to add
him to their defensive front. Suggs’ 132.5 career sacks rank 13th all-time in the NFL, and he needs just five more to break into the top 10.
But Terrell Suggs has made some comments that indicate that he won’t be back with Baltimore next season.
Terrell Suggs reaf- firmed that he wants to play next year. Understands that it might not be with Ravens. He’s a free agent in March.
As a free agent, Suggs knows better than anyone else that his future with the Ravens was never guaran- teed.
He, however, is still one of the greatest players in the NFL, and whether he ulti- mately goes with the Ravens or with the Cardinals, his strength on the field — and his path to greatness — can- not be denied in the least.
PAGE 14 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019