Despite the many denials from general manager Kevin Colbert this spring, it was announced during the broadcast of the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft that the Steelers have traded wide receiver Martavis Bryant to the Raiders for a third round pick in this year’s draft (the 79, overall).
Bryant, a fourth round pick out of Clemson in the 2014 NFL Draft, was a big play threat right out of the gate after being activated midway through his rookie year.
Unfortunately for Bryant, the off-the-field issues that dropped Bryant all the way to the fourth round re-surfaced in 2015, when he was suspended for the first month of the season after violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
Bryant’s brush with the NFL’s drug protocol didn’t deter him, as he continued to fail drug tests and missed the entire 2016 due to substance abuse issues.
There was plenty of excitement for Bryant’s return in 2017, but the big plays that were a huge part of his first two seasons were virtually non existent a year ago, and JuJu Smith-Schuster, the team’s second-round pick out of USC, was extremely productive right out of the gate and ultimately worked his way into the starting lineup by mid-season.
Due to his lack of targets, Bryant took to social media early last season to air his grievances, behavior that ultimately got him deactivated for the Lions game.
At the end of the day, I guess you can say the handwriting was on the wall, as it pertained to Bryant’s future with the Steelers, but the fact that they were able to land a third-round pick for him is kind of amazing.
Finally, Martavis Bryant had all the potential in the world coming out of college, but due to his own personal demons, that potential was never realized as a Pittsburgh Steeler.
