Steelers Sign WR Antonio Brown To Four-Year, $68M Extension

Update:

Adam Schefter of ESPN is reporting that the Steelers and Antonio Brown have reached agreement on a long-term extension that will make him highest paid receiver in NFL.

• According to Schefter, Browns receives a four-year extension worth $68 million. This will pay him $17 million per year over four years and Brown stands to make $18.5 million over the first three years of the agreement.
• The total value of his five-year contract is $72.71 million and this will keep him under team control through the 2021 season.

Brown has already confirmed the news via his Twitter account:

Steelers for life #Boomin pic.twitter.com/LYcCi4fW8U

— Antonio Brown (@AB84) February 27, 2017

In order for Brown to be the highest paid receiver in the NFL, he’ll have to top the $15 million per year being paid to Bengals WR A.J. Green. Another number to keep an eye on for Brown is the $35.5 million guaranteed Julio Jones got from the Falcons.

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Ian Rapoport of NFL Media is reporting that the Steelers and WR Antonio Brown are making “significant progress” toward a big-money, long-term extension that should be finalized by the start of the 2017 league year.

A few weeks ago, Steelers GM Kevin Colbert confirmed that they’ve opened negotiations Brown regarding long-term extension and mentioned that getting a deal in place was a “priority” for them this offseason, per Joe Rutter.

“I can say unequivocally we want Antonio Brown to retire as a Steeler, just as we want Le’Veon Bell to retire as a Steeler,” Colbert said, per Gerry Dulac.

Brown, 28, is a former sixth-round pick of the Steelers back in 2010. He’s currently in the fifth year of his six-year, $43.04 million contract that included an $8.5 million signing bonus and stands to make a base salary of $8.71 million for the 2017 season.

While the Steelers didn’t give Brown a new extension last year, they did restructure his contract last summer, which moved $4 million of his 2017 salary up to the 2016 season to reward him for his production.

In 2016, Brown appeared in 15 games for the Steelers and caught 106 passes for 1,284 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns. Pro Football Focus rated Brown as the No. 3 wide receiver out of 119 qualifying players.

We’ll have more regarding a new contract for Brown as the news is available.