Martavis Bryant traded from Steelers to Raiders, just like he wanted

Wide receiver Martavis Bryant has been traded from the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Oakland Raiders for a third-round pick in the NFL Draft, 79th overall, the Steelers said. (They’d initially announced the pick as 75th overall.)

It’s unsurprising as a divorce between Bryant and the team that drafted him in 2014 appeared inevitable. The wide receiver expressed his desire to be traded in October and was entering the final year of his contract with the Steelers.

Bryant reversed course and said he was happy to be in Pittsburgh, and the Steelers reportedly turned down trade interest from the Buffalo Bills. But no matter how much the two sides made nice, a long-term solution always looked unlikely and now Pittsburgh moves on from a receiver who was often a headache.

Bryant’s a talented receiver. In his first two seasons out of Clemson, he proved to be a big-play wide receiver. While he didn’t put up a ton of yards, he had 14 touchdowns in his first two seasons and was one of the league’s most dangerous deep threats.

Then, trouble caught up to Bryant. He was suspended the entire 2016 season for violating the league’s substance policy.

Bryant wasn’t as effective in his return season, finishing the year with just 50 receptions for 603 receiving yards and three touchdowns. He never topped 100 receiving yards in a game in 2017.

There was danger that Bryant could be a substance abuse violation away from another gigantic suspension. He was also on a contract close to its expiration, and wasn’t producing much, so it made sense for the Steelers to cut bait.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said in October that Bryant had been unhappy for a few weeks prior to the news of him wanting a trade coming out. His girlfriend also essentially confirmed the rumors on Twitter, before deleting her posts.

Bryant was frustrated with his role in the Steelers’ offense. He was the clear No. 2 to Antonio Brown, but also had to compete with Le’Veon Bell for targets, as well as Eli Rogers and rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Smith-Schuster continued to steal targets as the season went on, finishing with more receptions, yards and touchdowns than Bryant.

Bryant’s return in 2017 was expected to result in an offensive boom for the Steelers, but he ended up contributing little.

To make matters worse, the Steelers decided to demote Bryant to the scout team before their Week 8 matchup against the Detroit Lions. Pittsburgh sat him against Detroit because of his behavior on social media.

Now, Bryant will have a fresh start with a new team.