Damien Woody After Antonio Brown Contract: Some Guys Value Money over Rings

Antonio Brown is going from the Pittsburgh Steelers, an organizational bastion of consistency that's perennially in the playoff conversation, to the Oakland Raiders, who are the antithesis of all of those words.

Former NFL offensive lineman Damien Woody responded to Brown critics Sunday, noting that some players are playing more for the bottom line than Super Bowl glory:

The Raiders agreed to trade a third- and fifth-round pick to Pittsburgh for Brown early Sunday morning. As part of the deal, the Raiders reworked Brown's deal to pay him up to $54.1 million with $30.1 million guaranteed, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. Brown had no guaranteed money remaining on his contract in Pittsburgh. 

The wideout made it clear respect—in the form of guaranteed money—was critical to him accepting a trade to a new team.

"If your squad out there wanna win and your squad wants a hungry wide receiver who's the best in the whole world, someone hit my phone," Brown said in an Instagram live video last month. "Tell them I ain't doing no unguarantees. I ain't even gonna play myself no more for this NFL, ya heard? I think I've done done everything. What's left for me to do? Win a Super Bowl? It's gotta be the right team for that, right? Who want smoke? I've got a lot of fuel built up."

"If your team got guaranteed money, they want to get to know me and work with me, tell them call me," Brown continued. "I ain't got no time to waste."

The Steelers rarely give players extensions or rework deals until they are in the last season of their contract. The team also rarely gives out guarantees beyond the first season of a deal, meaning Brown was essentially playing year-to-year despite signing a four-year, $68 million extension in 2017.

"I don't even have to play football if I don't want. I don't even need the game. I don't need to prove nothing to anyone," Brown told ESPN's Jeff Darlington. "If they wanna play, they going to play by my rules. If not, I don't need to play. Obviously, I want the game, but I don't need the game. It's a difference."

Despite his unorthodox methods—his trade request was perhaps the strangest since Terrell Owens was doing driveway pushups—Brown got what he wanted. He's headed to a team that handed him a pile of guaranteed money and will be playing for a coach who thinks he's the "hardest-working player I've ever seen."

Brown may never win a ring with the Raiders, but he won the battle he wanted.