Antonio Brown was just traded to the Raiders, which has Chiefs’ fans wondering if they should be afraid of this team in 2019?
Antonio Brown is a great wide receiver. There really is no sound argument against that point. So, seeing him traded to the Kansas City Chiefs’ decades-long rival has some fans wondering if they should be nervous about next year’s contests against the Oakland Raiders.
I’ll be honest, I think the Raiders have a shot at significant improvement next year. They now have a great receiver for Derek Carr to throw to and three first round picks to bolster their roster. That being said, what is a significant improvement from 4-12? Would that be winning half their games or even breaking double digit wins for the first time in several years?
Here’s the thing, the Raiders have been mired in mediocrity for over a decade for various reasons. Even more, there are several reasons to believe that this trend will continue regardless of the talent they bring to the team.
JON GRUDEN
Look, Jon Gruden was an entertaining commentator. He really was. He brought passion and a very unique flair to the booth. You could always tell he was having fun on the job, and even though I didn’t always agree with his takes, he was great at what he did.
Even more, he had coached two teams to Super Bowl births and had actually walked away from one with the Lombardi. Seemingly, he had himself a pretty successful coaching career. No wonder Raiders’ fans and national pundits were over the moon when the Raiders broke the bank for Gruden.
But, here’s the rub. Being an analyst and being a head coach are wildly different in terms of the intensity required to deliver high quality results. Yes, Gruden has been a coach before, but he had been out of the grind for over a decade. I found it odd to hear his ex-colleagues at ESPN reminisce about the quality of his work on set and their surprise at his poor results in Oakland. Simply put, analyst and coach are radically different jobs and being a good analyst doesn’t mean you can be a good coach.
That brings me to probably the most controversial point, Gruden’s coaching. I understand that Gruden went to two Super Bowls and even won one of them. Honestly, though, he had a mostly up and down tenure in his first stint with the Raiders. Plus, that Buccaneers’ team was completely stacked when he walked in the door. There were a number of Hall of Famers on that team and you could argue there were several coaches who could have had the same result.
A perfect example of this is Gary Kubiak, the ex-Broncos head coach who won a Super Bowl with the team in 2015. Kubiak was a solid coach, but I don’t think anyone would consider him the reason that team won the Super Bowl. So, why does Gruden get this type of treatment?
To bring this point home, following Gruden’s Super Bowl win, that team began to regress every single year. Gruden was eventually fired, for the second time, and began his illustrious commentating career. What’s particularly interesting, is that neither the Raiders’ nor the Buccaneers’ franchise has really recovered since their time with Gruden. You could argue this is coincidence, but it should raise some eyebrows.
LAS VEGAS
The Raiders made headlines when they decided to forsake their long-time, diehard fan base in Oakland for the bright lights of the Strip and Las Vegas. In theory, this sounds like a good idea. Vegas is booming and the team can secure a brand new stadium with the move.
There are a couple reasons why this could create some challenges, but one, in particular, should worry Raiders’ fans and give Chiefs’ fans peace. Here’s the thing, when you put wealthy young athletes in an environment like Las Vegas you are asking for problems.
One of the main difficulties for NFL teams is keeping their young players out of trouble. This is difficult because you typically have young men who are thrust from modest means into riches and fame. Everyone from their past, good or bad, wants a piece of that.
What’s more, most of these individuals have no understanding of money and end up burning through their cash at an alarming pace. This is common for a huge percentage of professional athletes across all sports and ages. Adding the allure of Las Vegas to this formula could prove to be severely damaging.
ANTONIO BROWN
As I said, Antonio Brown is a fantastic wide receiver. He’s arguably the best of a generation and could continue to make a Hall of Fame case in Oakland. Could, is the operative word here.
The Chiefs organization has been burned by a number of large contracts the last decade. These include monster deals to Larry Johnson, Dwayne Bowe, Eric Berry, and Justin Houston, just to name a few. Chiefs’ fans understand that there is some danger to major deals.
That doesn’t necessarily mean this is a bad deal on its face. The Raiders signed Brown to a mega deal of three years, $54 million. It’s probable that Tyreek Hill will get more than this.
But here’s the problem, Brown isn’t Hill. Brown is on the wrong side of 30. This doesn’t bode well for his availability over the next three years. Yes, he could skate by injury free, but the older a player gets the less likely this will be the case.
Even more, Brown doesn’t seem to be the type of player you want to give a huge contract. This is an entirely subjective argument, but it seems like Brown is 100% about the money. If I’m honest, I would be, too.
The problem is, football is a grind and what happens, more often than not, is once players like Brown get paid, they seem to miss a lot of time due to minor injuries. That’s not to say these injuries aren’t serious, but the proof is in the pudding. Players who are in contract years almost always seem to play above expectations and refuse to sit out due to injury. This gets flipped on its head once these players get paid. There’s nothing worse than having a player with a huge price tag on the bench. It hurts the team in so many ways.
The point is, as a Chiefs’ fan, I’m not worried about the Raiders. The organization has failed for decades to make decisions that create a consistently successful team and atmosphere. I think they will absolutely have talent, but it’s doubtful the right people are in place to utilize that talent to its fullest. I think Chiefs’ fans can rest easy knowing that K.C. is in a far better position.