NFL Notes: Antonio Brown, 49ers, Lions & Texans

Antonio Brown

Steelers WR Antonio Brown explained that there’s really nothing he can do to fight the team’s rules to not negotiate with a player until he’s in the final year of his contract.

“I can’t really fight what the rules are,” Brown said, per Mark Kaboly. “You have to take care of your guys. If a guy under performs you get rid of him. If a guy overperforms, you take care of him.”

Brown did, however, add: “I’d never hold out.”

49ers

49ers GM Trent Baalke said that they will “absolutely” carry over all of their $49.4 million of cap room and eventually spend it to bolster their roster.

“Absolutely,” Baalke said, via CSN Bay Area. “We’re not going to just put it in the pocket. We’re going to spend the money. The money is going to get spent. And if you look at the way we try to do things. We’re not trying to just keep the money. We want to win. But spending the most amount of money doesn’t guarantee the opportunity to win. You can’t buy a championship.”

Lions

Lions president Rod Wood said they are hoping to host the NFL Draft at some point in the coming years.

“As I said before, I’d love to do it,” Wood said, via the Detroit Free Press. “I’ve not heard about how they’re going to open that process up to bidding, or people just bidding on their own, or requesting an opportunity to do it on their own. But I’ve not yet expressed an interest on behalf of the team.”

Texans

• Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Texans OT Derek Newton suffered a strained hamstring and is expected to be out a few weeks.