Steelers Won’t Renegotiate Antonio Brown’s Deal, Expect Him To Honor Contract

Steelers GM Kevin Colbert told Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that they have no plans to renegotiate WR Antonio Brown‘s contract and cited the team’s policy of not re-working non-quarterback contracts that have more than one year remaining.

“It was something that was here before I got here and I am sure it will continue after I am gone,” Colbert said, via Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “It is just the consistency within the organization. It is something that we believe in and it works for us, so I don’t see it changing.”

Colbert stressed that they expect Brown and their other players to honor the contracts they sign until they have one year remaining.

“Players sign contracts, we expect them to honor them,” Colbert said. “If a player has one year to go other than a quarterback is when we have gotten into discussions. It has been the position of the organization and it has always been like that.”

ESPN’s Adam Schefter previously reported that the Steelers and Brown’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, were scheduled to meet lats week in Jacksonville to discuss a reworked/improved contract.

However, reports later mentioned that it was unlikely that Pittsburgh would be willing to rework Brown’s deal and match the recent contracts signed by receivers like Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas and T.Y. Hilton.

There was talk a few months back that Brown could hold out of training camp for a pay raise, even though he signed a new contract with the team a few years ago. However, Brown elected to attend offseason workouts and training camp.

Brown, 26, signed a six-year, $43.04 million contract with the Steelers back in 2012 after Mike Wallace turned down a similar offer from the team.

Brown is now among the best receivers in the game, so even though he stands to make base salaries of $6 million (2015), $8.25 million (2016), and $8.71 million (2015) over the remainder of the deal, he’s actually underpaid by market value standards.

In 2014, Brown caught 129 passes for 1,698 yards receiving and 13 touchdowns. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 1 receiver out of 110 qualifying players.

We’ll have more regarding Brown and his contract situation as the news is available.