Antonio Brown - Pro Football Rumors

Antonio Brown Addresses Controversy

September 20th, 2018 at 1:49pm CST by Zachary Links

Antonio Brown raised eyebrows this week when he got into a Twitter spat with an ex-Steelers employee and subsequently skipped a team practice. In his tweet, Brown seemingly dared the Steelers to trade him, but Brown insists that he wants to stay put.

“It was a guy that used to work here, a PR guy … [taking] a personal shot at me,” Brown said (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com) “But, obviously, I don’t want to be traded and I’m still grateful to put on my uniform…I just got to stay away from online with the distractions.”

Already, head coach Mike Tomlin and agent Drew Rosenhaus have thrown cold water on the notion that the wide receiver wants out of Pittsburgh. This week’s hysteria may have been much ado about nothing, but no one can be blamed for speculating on the matter, particularly given Le’Veon Bell‘s ongoing holdout.

Although Brown is admittedly frustrated with the Steelers’ slow start, he is clearly on board with the team. The stage could be set for a classic performance against the Buccaneers on Monday night, provided that Brown’s calf injury from Week 2 has healed up.

Agent: Brown Has Not Asked For Trade

September 18th, 2018 at 12:29pm CST by Zachary Links

On Tuesday morning, Mike Tomlin told reporters that Antonio Brown has not asked to be traded from the Steelers. Now, Brown’s agent has confirmed that the wide receiver is not looking to leave Pittsburgh.

“The tweet [on Monday] was not in reference to anything other than Antonio responding to a person he knows. It was not directed towards a trade, or wanting to be trading. Any idea he was asking for a trade is not accurate,” agent Drew Rosenhaus said in a statement to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter links).

Rosenhaus went on to explain that Brown’s surprising absence from Monday’s practice was not tied to any sort of dissatisfaction with the club.

“Antonio had a personal matter. I talked to the team about it. His issue was unrelated to the tweet or his relationship with the team. Third, AB has an incredible drive to win. He just wants to win. That’s all that that is,” Rosenhaus said. “That’s not anything more than him encouraging his coaches and teammates to win. And that’s what his entire focus is on. Any notion, any speculation otherwise, can be put to bed. This is a non-story that has been blown out of proportion. We can end this right here and now.”

Brown was visibly upset with Steelers coaches during Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs, but it sounds like both sides are committed to smoothing things out. Brown is slated to talk with Tomlin on Tuesday and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on Wednesday to clear the air. Then, on Monday, Brown and the Steelers will look to capture their first win of the season against the Buccaneers.

Steelers HC: Brown Has Not Asked For Trade

September 18th, 2018 at 11:54am CST by Zachary Links

Antonio Brown‘s absence from Monday’s practice raised some eyebrows, but the wide receiver is not looking to leave Pittsburgh, according to coach Mike Tomlin. At a Tuesday morning press conference, Tomlin said that Brown has not requested a trade.

Brown, however, was visibly displeased with Steelers coaches during Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs and he dared the club to trade him on Twitter in an online spat with a former team employee. Although Tomlin says there’s no reason to panic, he did confirm that he will meet with Brown on Tuesday to smooth out any in-house issues.

Brown opened the season by catching nine passes for 93 yards including one tremendous third quarter touchdown against the Browns. This past weekend, he remained productive with nine grabs for 67 yards, but lost his cool in the fourth quarter when talking with offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner and wide receivers coach Darryl Drake. Pittsburgh lost the Week 2 contest against Kansas City, leaving the Steelers winless heading into their Monday night game against the Buccaneers.

We already saw one noteworthy wide receiver change teams this week, but Tomlin asserts that Brown is not looking to join Gordon on the transactions wire.

Steelers’ Antonio Brown Misses Practice

September 18th, 2018 at 10:36am CST by Zachary Links

Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown was a no-show for practice on Monday, team sources tell Ed Bouchette and Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The reason for his absence is unclear, but it may be cause for concern after Brown had an unusual Twitter exchange with a former Steelers employee.

After an ex-Steelers PR man intimated that Brown would not be an elite receiver without teammate Ben Roethlisberger, Brown responded, “Trade me let’s find out.” Brown’s decision to skip practice isn’t necessarily related, however, and it’s even possible that his absence was excused by coach Mike Tomlin. At the moment, details are scarce, but Brown did appear to be upset on the field during the Steelers’ 42-37 loss to the Chiefs and reportedly left the locker room in a huff.

Brown, the league’s most talented wide receiver, was as fearsome as ever in 2017 as he caught 101 passes for a league-leading 1,533 yards with nine touchdowns. After yet another spectacular season, Brown earned his sixth career Pro Bowl selection and fourth consecutive First-Team All-Pro nod.

The star receiver inked an extension with Pittsburgh in February of 2017. At the time, the four-year, $68MM extension made him the highest-paid receiver of all-time on a yearly basis with an average annual value of $17MM. This offseason, the 30-year-old agreed to tweak his payout structure in order to give the Steelers some cap relief.

For what it’s worth, Roethlisberger believes that Brown’s sideline flare-up with offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner was “just frustration,” and doesn’t believe that the receiver wants to be traded (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler). Still, Big Ben says that he’ll talk with Brown on Wednesday.

Steelers Notes: Brown, Dobbs, Boswell, Bell

June 8th, 2018 at 6:59pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Antonio Brown missed eight out of 10 OTA practices held by the Steelers. While a star player missing OTAs certainly isn’t uncommon, it is for Brown. As laid out by Mark Kaboly of The Athletic, Brown is a “football junkie”and him missing OTAs is something that’s very out of character. Kaboly writes that he “couldn’t tell you the last time that he missed a training camp practice or a regular-season practice” and that “in Brown’s eight previous seasons he may have missed two total OTAs.”

Kaboly notes that even in past seasons where Brown was unhappy with his contract and demanding a new one, he still showed up for OTAs. So what’s responsible for Brown’s sudden prolonged absence from the voluntary portions of the Steelers’ offseason program?

It’s anyone’s guess, but it’s surely a distraction Mike Tomlin and the rest of the Steelers’ coaching staff would rather not have.

Here’s more from Pittsburgh:

Kaboly thinks quarterback Josh Dobbs is a near certainty to not make the 53-man roster. Despite being taken in the fourth round last year, the Steelers appeared to throw in the towel on Dobbs by taking Mason Rudolph in the third round this year. Kaboly writes that Landry Jones is locked in as the backup quarterback and that “there is no impending camp battle” for the position. With Rudolph assured a spot as the number three, Dobbs is very likely to be cut as the Steelers “always keep only three quarterbacks” notes Kaboly.
Wide receiver Marcus Tucker has a “real shot” at making the team, according to Kaboly. Tucker has spent the last two seasons on the Steelers’ practice squad and “was one of the best receivers during OTAs” he writes.
During a recent Q & A with fans, Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote that he thinks the Steelers will extend kicker Chris Boswell this offseason, but not running back Le’Veon Bell. Both Boswell and Bell are set to be free agents after the year, but Bouchette thinks the Steelers will again play it year-to-year with Bell.

Steelers’ Antonio Brown Restructures Deal

March 7th, 2018 at 11:34am CST by Zachary Links

Antonio Brown has agreed to restructure his contract with the Steelers, according to his latest Instagram story. The Drew Rosenhaus client will have his 2018 salary fully guaranteed in a move that will give him additional security while freeing up some additional cap room for the team.

Pittsburgh has created $9.7MM in cap space by reworking Brown’s deal, tweets Tom Pelissero of NFL.com. That means the Steelers converted Browns’s entire $6MM roster bonus and all but $915K of his 2018 base salary into a signing bonus.

Brown, the league’s most talented wide receiver, inked an extension with Pittsburgh in February of 2017. The four-year, $68MM extension made him the highest-paid receiver of all-time on a yearly basis with an average annual value of $17MM. Brown’s signing bonus and reduced 2017 salaries made up the only guaranteed portions of the pact, so the 29-year-old (30 in July) was amenable to having his 2018 pay locked down.

Brown was as fearsome as ever in 2017 as he caught 101 passes for a league-leading 1,533 yards with nine touchdowns. After yet another spectacular season, Brown earned his sixth career Pro Bowl selection and fourth consecutive First-Team All-Pro nod. In his Instagram video, Rosenhaus does a celebratory toast with Brown to celebrate his future first ballot Hall of Fame induction. You won’t find anyone who will argue with that.

The Steelers have one of the tightest cap situations in the NFL this offseason, but Brown’s restructure should help them in their quest to extend Le’Veon Bell and address other needs in free agency.

Steelers’ Eli Rogers Tore ACL Last Sunday

January 19th, 2018 at 5:33pm CST by GregGoldstein

The Steelers will not be playing in the AFC Championship this weekend, but still have an injury to deal with after last Sunday’s game. We have learned that Pittsburgh wide receiver Eli Rogers did tear his ACL on the team’s final drive of their loss to the Jaguars in the divisional round, reports Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Rogers, 25, sat as the Steelers fourth receiver on the depth chart for most of the year, but did get a lot more chances in the slot when Antonio Brown went down with an injury in the last two weeks of the regular season. In all, the former undrafted free agent made 18 catches for 149 yards and one touchdown in 14 games. This stands well below his productive 2016 season in which he caught 48 balls for close to 600 yards and three scores.

According to Dulac, head coach Mike Tomlin did not mention the injury in a season ending press conference that took place on Tuesday. However, the wideout will now have all offseason to recover from his torn ACL. He will be a restricted free agent this offseason after signing a three-year contract coming out of college in 2015.

Steelers Notes: Brown, Bell, Haley

January 14th, 2018 at 10:15am CST by Rory Parks

Antonio Brown is likely to play in the Steelers’ divisional round contest against Jacksonville this afternoon, as ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reports, although Schefter adds that Brown’s injured calf is not close to being fully healed. The league’s top wideout, who is one month removed from the partially torn left calf muscle that forced him to miss the final two games of the regular season, will go through pregame warmups to test the calf, but as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweets, every expectation is that Brown will play and will play regularly. Brown was forced to miss Friday’s practice because of an illness, but he was a full participant in practices on Wednesday and Thursday, and Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets that Brown’s illness will not impact his playing status [Twitter update: Brown is active, per Schefter].

Now for several more notes on the AFC North champions:

His idle threats notwithstanding, no one expects Le’Veon Bell to retire or sit out the 2018 season if he is hit with the franchise tag for the second straight year, least of all the Steelers themselves. As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (video link), the Steelers are indeed expected to put the franchise tag on Bell, which has been a foregone conclusion for some time now. As Rapoport observes, Pittsburgh has historically refused to cede to the demands of players who threaten to sit out, and he does not expect the club to change it standard operating procedure for Bell. If Bell does play 2018 under the tag, he will have earned roughly $26.5MM over the 2017-18 seasons, while he would have earned $30MM if he signed the long-term deal the Steelers offered him last year. Nonetheless, we will still need to wait to see what the future holds before we can say for sure whether that was a wise financial move for Bell.
We heard at the end of December that the relationship between Ben Roethlisberger and OC Todd Haley is strained, but Rapoport goes one step further, saying that the relationship “is in as bad of a place as it’s been in years.” Nonetheless, Roethlisberger has thrived under Haley’s leadership, which puts the Steelers in something of a bind. Haley’s contract expires at the end of the season, so Pittsburgh will need to decide whether it wants to bring him back and hope he and Big Ben can put aside their personal differences since the on-field product has been so good, or whether it wants to move on. Of course, the decision could be made for the Steelers if Roethlisberger makes good on his threat to retire, or if offensive line coach Mike Munchak gets a head coaching job elsewhere and brings Haley with him, which Rapoport says is a distinct possibility.
Speaking of Munchak, who has already interviewed with the Cardinals for their head coaching job, we heard this morning that he could be a dark horse candidate for the Giants’ HC vacancy.

Antonio Brown To Be A Game-Time Decision?

January 12th, 2018 at 7:02pm CST by GregGoldstein

The Steelers have been without star wideout Antonio Brown since the middle of their week 15 contest against the Patriots. While the team expected that the 29-year-old would be ready for their divisional round contest, Brown is set to be a game-time decision on Sunday, a source tells Pro Football Talk (Twitter link).

Brown has been recovering from a partially torn calf muscle, but the injury has lagged perhaps longer than Pittsburgh expected. The veteran receiver relies on quickness and sharp cuts rather than sheer strength, so this particular injury could have even more of an impact than it would on other bigger star playmakers.

The eight-year vet had produced what could have been his best statistical year during the regular season. He caught over 100 passes in 14 games and his 1,533 yards ranks third-most for a season in Brown’s career. The All-pro also reeled in nine touchdowns in 2017.

However, the Steelers wouldn’t be without weapons should Brown miss their first playoff game. JuJu Smith-Schuster, Martavis Bryant and Jesse James would be the primary receiving threats in his absence. Obviously Ben Roethlisberger would rely on star running back Le’Veon Bell even more with Brown on the sidelines.

Antonio Brown To Be 100 Percent Vs. Jags?

January 7th, 2018 at 5:47pm CST by Sam Robinson

The three weeks of rest look to have Antonio Brown ready to return to action after a partially torn calf sidelined him.

While the Steelers’ top weapon was set to be ready to return to action for the team’s second-round game, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (video link) the four-time All-Pro wide receiver’s calf setback is not much of a concern presently.

Brown is expected to be back at full strength, with Rapoport saying he could have played today had Pittsburgh been required to, for the Steelers’ rematch against the Jaguars next Sunday.

Prior to Brown going down in Week 15 against the Patriots, he had not missed a regular-season game due to injury during his run of four consecutive All-Pro distinctions. Brown did, however, miss a 2015 divisional-round game because of a concussion. The Steelers, who have also seen injuries to Le’Veon Bell and Ben Roethlisberger injuries limit the team at key junctures over the past three seasons, will at least enter this year’s playoff bracket with each of their cornerstone performers healthy.

Despite missing 2 1/2 games, Brown led the NFL with 1,533 receiving yards.