Peter King on Antonio Brown Trade: 'Raiders Make the Most Sense'

The Pittsburgh Steelers could trade Antonio Brown as early as this week, and the Oakland Raiders could be the favorite to make a move.

Peter King of NBC Sports wrote the Raiders "make the most sense" as a trade partner. Oakland is one of three teams (Tennessee Titans, Washington) known to have expressed interest in the disgruntled Pro Bowler, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The Steelers have been asking for a first-round pick in trade talks, per Schefter, and the Raiders are loaded with three No. 1s thanks to their trades of Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper. Raiders head coach Jon Gruden also has a well-known affinity for veteran players, and he gushed about Brown before Oakland's Week 14 matchup with Pittsburgh last season. 

"He's the hardest-working man, I think, in football," Gruden said. "Hardest-working player I've ever seen practice, and I've seen Jerry Rice. I've seen a lot of good ones. But I put Antonio Brown at the top. And if there's any young wideouts out there, I'd go watch him practice, and you figure out yourself why he's such a good player."

Gruden refused to discuss whether the Raiders have had discussions with the Steelers when asked at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

"Well, I don't like veteran players, so I'll just leave it at that," Gruden joked with reporters. "I'm not going to speculate about anybody. We are going to look at every vehicle possible. Certainly the financial part of every acquisition has to be considered, but we are going to look into everybody's availability and what we think is best for our team."

Brown is a seven-time Pro Bowler, including each of the last six seasons. He's made at least 100 receptions in each of the last six campaigns and 121 more than any other receiver over that span. The Steelers and their star wideout have had a falling out over what Brown says is special treatment of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and a shaky relationship with head coach Mike Tomlin.

Brown said he and Roethlisberger did not have much of a non-football relationship, and he criticized general manager Kevin Colbert for saying the quarterback has "52 kids under him."

"What ideally grown man is calling another grown man a kid?" Brown told ESPN's Jeff Darlington. "You don't have no respect for these guys? These are the guys that go to work for you. ... That's my issue. It's all about respect."

Colbert did clarify his comments, but respect has been a sticking point for Brown. Gruden, for his part, appears to have respect in spades for the future Hall of Famer.