© Philip G. Pavely | 2018 Nov 8
It appeared that the Antonio Brown sweepstakes, which the 49ers have been linked to for months, ended on Thursday night, when Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported that the Steelers are finalizing a deal to send him to the Buffalo Bills.
Sources: The #Steelers are closing in on a deal to send star WR Antonio Brown to the Buffalo #Bills. There it is.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 8, 2019
The Steelers have been reported to be actively shopping Brown, who has stated publicly that he wants out of Pittsburgh, so the news didn’t come as a huge surprise. What did come as a surprise, however, was Brown’s response on Instagram shortly after, where he replied to the NFL’s story with “Fake news” from his official account.
.@AB84 isn’t having it pic.twitter.com/A8Lnl3aNj4
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 8, 2019
Rapoport then tweeted that the deal isn’t official, but doubled-down that it’s on it’s way to happening. Interestingly, the 49ers were not one of the teams Brown listed as primary suitors.
While several teams had leapt to the forefront — the #Raiders, the #Redskins, the #Titans — the #Bills were stealth. There are things to work out, but Buffalo is on its way to getting AB. And they do have a need at WR. https://t.co/JWgQuIZr71
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 8, 2019
Longtime Bills reporter Vic Carucci reported a short time later that a deal between the Bills and Brown is not imminent.
An NFL source says #Bills have inquired about Antonio Brown with the #Steelers, but no deal is imminent. In fact, another league source termed it "unlikely."
— Vic Carucci (@viccarucci) March 8, 2019
Brown strongly hinted on multiple occasions that he wanted to join the 49ers this offseason, and also asked a number of former players including Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens about heading to the Bay Area. Based on Thursday’s report, the interest wasn’t mutual.