The Facts: Following up on the ongoing story. ...The Steelers currently don’t have many suitors for Brown. And that’s apparently because the Steelers are still holding out for a first-round pick for Brown’s services. Per a source with knowledge of the situation, “several teams” are waiting for the Steelers to reduce their asking price before pursuing Brown aggressively.
Diehards Line:
According to PFT's Mike Florio, it’s unclear which teams are among the “several.” But these negotiations always become, at some level, a game of poker. And it doesn’t take being the first team to call to get a deal done; all it takes is being the right team to make the right move at the right time. But the fact that Brown clearly has some power in this situation makes it more complicated. As Pittsburgh Post-Gazette staffer Gerry Dulac reports of the Bills bowing out of their pursuit, "the Steelers and Bills had 'positive' trade talks last night, but deal fell apart because Brown nixed going to Buffalo". If Brown plans to continue protesting when teams for which he doesn’t want to play come calling the Steelers, maybe the Steelers eventually will have to take less than they want to move him to a place where he’s willing to go. Or maybe they’ll eventually have to tell Brown, “You’ll play for us, or you’ll play for no one. ...” Stay tuned.