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ALAMEDA — Mike Mayock walked into Jon Gruden’s office Wednesday morning and found the Raiders coach watching tape with Antonio Brown.
Gruden had compiled 400 cut-ups of the star wideout, but chose not to dissect any of his positive plays from his nine years as a Steeler. Brown appreciated Gruden’s tough love, praising his new head coach as an “offensive guru” and “Gruden Grinder” during his introductory press conference on Wednesday at Raiders headquarters, occasionally gazing to his right and smiling at the man who will call plays to get him the ball.
“I’ve never seen a better connection between a player and a coach than when these two got together,” Mayock said. ” … They were like little kids in a laboratory. And that’s why we’re so excited.”
Gruden emphatically stated that he wants the best group of wide receivers in the NFL. In order to achieve that, he believes, he needs some of the best wide receivers in the league.
“And in my opinion,” Gruden said, “we acquired the best receiver in football. And let’s get to work.”
Brown boasts an NFL-record six straight seasons of 100 or more catches. His fewest receiving yards over that span? Still a whopping 1,297. No Raiders receiver has come near that number in the last two seasons. Tight end Jared Cook came closest with 896 receiving yards last season. And last year, during a supposed down year, Brown caught a league-high 15 touchdowns.
In acquiring Brown from the Steelers for a third- and fifth-round pick in this year’s draft, the Raiders have a true No. 1 wide receiver.
Asked how much longer he believes he can be a No. 1 receiver in the NFL, the 30-year-old Brown said he wants to catch Hall of Famer and former Raider Jerry Rice. Brown reaching that peak remains a tall task – he trails Rice by 712 receptions, 11,688 receiving yards and 123 touchdown catches – but he’s undoubtedly a future Hall of Famer and actual No. 1 receiver, something the Raiders haven’t had since they traded Amari Cooper to the Cowboys six games into the 2018 season.
“Playing with a guy like Coach Gruden, obviously he knows what it takes to keep me upright and fresh and to keep me out there for a long time,” Brown said. “It’s a challenge every year to prove my love for the game.
“I know these guys believe in me, but there’s a lot for me to prove here. I’m here to prove who I am and what I stand for, not just my words but my actions. Hoping that you guys see what I’m about, more so what I do.”
The Raiders are reportedly adding former Chargers wide receiver Tyrell Williams, too, gifting Derek Carr a legitimate No. 2 wideout that carries a rare combination of 6-foot-4 size and 4.4-speed. Williams has 2,440 receiving yards and 16 touchdown catches in the last three seasons. With proven veteran Jordy Nelson and a potential first-round draftee in the fold as the No. 3 and No. 4 receivers, Gruden’s desire to have the best receiving corps in the league might be more reality than fantasy.
“It’s going to take some time to get used to each other and get the offense down,” Williams said Wednesday. “But I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t be the best receiving group in the league.”
Add in the signing of behemoth offensive tackle Trent Brown, which the Raiders made official Wednesday, and Carr might actually have time to find this much improved receiving corps in 2019.
Here are some other notable talking points from Brown’s Raiders introduction.
Brown’s impressions of Derek Carr
Brown worked out at a local park with Carr on Tuesday, running routes and catching passes in a video captured by TMZ.
The new Raiders receiver has been enamored with Carr since he reached a deal with the Raiders late Saturday night, engaging with him on various social media platforms and even visiting his house earlier Wednesday. Brown’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said on NFL Network Carr played a significant role in getting Brown to the Raiders.
It’s no secret Brown didn’t have the best relationship with Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who Brown has accused of never reaching out to him during the offseason to train and not getting to know him personally.
Asked on Twitter recently about what caused the conflict between him and Roethlisberger, Brown responded, “No conflict just a matter of respect! Mutual respect! He has a owner mentality like he can call out anybody including coaches. Players know but they can’t say anything about it otherwise they meal ticket gone. It’s a dirty game within a game. #truth”
Asked Wednesday about Carr, Brown’s response carried a different tone.
“Just refreshing. I think he’s hungry for success, hungry for turning the organization around. Hungry to get on the winning side of things. And I’m just hungry for the same things,” Brown said. “So I think we stand for the same causes. God-fearing men, family-first-type people. And we just want to be the best at our craft, putting in work in the meetings, on the field. I think he’s like a sponge just trying to absorb everything from these guys to my left and my right to be able to help the team be successful.”
Raiders weren’t in on Brown until late
NFL Network reported late Thursday night that Brown was headed to the Bills. The Raiders felt Wednesday they were out of the Brown sweepstakes, and the subsequent news put the nail in the coffin.
But Mayock and Gruden woke up Friday morning with a “wait and see” mentality as news broke that Buffalo didn’t have a deal with Brown, and the Raiders eventually re-entered the race as Pittsburgh’s demands slowly dropped. After reportedly demanding a first-round pick in return for the wideout, which the Raiders didn’t want to part with, the Steelers settled for a third- and fifth-rounder while Oakland kept its first four picks in the top 35.
“I’m not going to get into specifics, but the bottom line is I think Pittsburgh wanted a certain pick. We weren’t going to be able to get there,” Mayock said. “When that deal fell through with Buffalo, we got involved.
Both Mayock and Rosenhaus praised each other for their negotiations that helped a deal reach completion by late Saturday night.
“This is my 31st year,” Rosenhaus said on NFL Network. “You would never know that this was his first year as a GM.”
“Any time you’ve got a high-profile negotiation like this there are points to be made by both sides and you’ve gotta get through some things,” Mayock said. “Drew did a great job keeping this thing alive.”
The two sides eventually settled on a re-worked three-year deal worth up to more than $54 million with over $30 million guaranteed (Brown had zero dollars guaranteed on his remaining three years in Pittsburgh), making Brown the highest-paid wide receiver in football.
