The Steelers and Antonio Brown on the verge of agreeing to a restructuring of his contract, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). That deal is expected to be completed shortly. Brown was due $6.25MM this year and will now earn ~$10.25MM, a source tells Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter). The Steelers are also promising to give Brown a true extension after the 2016 season (link).
Brown has two years left to go on his current deal and has been pushing for an extension. The Steelers, meanwhile, have been insistent that they won’t negotiate right now. Brown did not get the big pay bump he truly wanted, but he did get a small concession to keep him happy over the next year. The Steelers, citing team policy, have told Brown that they will not start discussing a new deal with him until he is one year away from free agency.
Brown is considered to be one of the very best wide receivers in the NFL. However, because of the team friendly deal he signed years ago, he is ranked 18th among wide receivers in terms of average annual compensation ($8.4MM/year). Last year, Brown tied for the league lead in receptions (136), finished second in yards (1,834), and scored ten touchdowns.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Just pay the man.
They are going to give some extra cash this year to keep him happy then next year when he is one year away, and they have a huge amount of Salary Cap space, they will get him a new deal in place…
It will allow them to keep their precedent of only extending with one year left… and it’s gonna work out better for him because they will have like $50M in cap space to work with, and he’ll get a better deal…
Its all about setting/keeping up with their precedent. While I don’t 100% agree with their stance, I can understand wanting to keep precedent. If they were to extend Brown this season, then other players (outside of QBs, since the Steelers have a different precedent for them) would ask for extensions early. Its similar to when players hold out of training camp for more money. Teams are reluctant to cave in to a player’s demands before he returns to camp because it sets a bad precedent. Current and future players are going to seek to take advantage of those opportunities.
How about just live up to the contract you signed, instead?
He’s one of the few players who have greatly outplayed his contract. But I usually share your point of view for most situations like this. My fav is the safety from Miami holding out lol.
I’m all for players living up to their contract, but I think he is an exception just because he has so greatly outplayed his contract. I’m not saying they should’ve given him a brand new contract, but throwing a little more money his way isn’t the worst idea. Of the last few years, he’s probably one of the few, if not the only, player where a hold out could be justified. As @Ravens said, the Miami safety who held out, despite being one of the top paid safeties, was comical…but Brown deserved a bit more money in my opinion…even if it was just moving up money from one year to the next.
I agree with you the players should play out there contracts in the nfl
Every talented player holds out for a new deal instead of honoring what they have originally said was good for them
I wonder if he will give them a discount? Anything less than being the #1 paid WR is a discount. He can play like no other. He doesn’t have the flashy athleticism of other big name guys but he continually outplays everyone.
Does anyone remember when the Steelers offered Antonio Brown’s deal to Mike Wallace first? Lol. Then Wallace declined and they gave it to Brown, but at that time they preferred Wallace. Completely insane.
I’m still waiting for DeCastro to get signed.