Antonio Brown had his much-anticipated meeting with Steelers owner Art Rooney II Tuesday in Florida.
According to a tweet from Brown, the meeting was friendly and productive. The end result?
Brown is done in Pittsburgh.
Had a great meeting with Mr.Rooney today we discussed a lot of things and we cleared the air on several issues! We both agreed that it is time to move on but I’ll always have appreciation and gratitude towards the Rooney family and @steelers organization! #CallGod #Boomin pic.twitter.com/DEgURchvhW
— Antonio Brown (@AB84) February 19, 2019
Brown's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, along with Steelers GM Kevin Colbert and Vice President of Football & Business Administration, Omar Khan, were also in attendance. The Steelers have not, however, granted Rosenhaus permission to shop his client.
Brown says he and the team "cleared the air" and "agreed it is time to move on." While the Steelers did not issue a public statement about the meeting or it's tone, Colbert is expected to address the media later this week as he typically does before the scouting department and coaches head to Indianapolis next week for the NFL Scouting Combine. Colbert also is scheduled to speak next Wednesday at the combine.
Brown's statement comes after a long, public, drama-filled battle between Brown and Steelers brass stretching back to Week 17 of last season.
Brown skipped out on the team late in the week before their regular season finale against the Bengals. Since, he has gone on a very public crusade to extract himself from the team, most recently saying quarterback Ben Roethlisberger "has an owner's mentality" and if other players can't say anything about it because, "otherwise they meal ticket gone. It’s a dirty game within a game."
For his part, Rooney has said it would be hard to envision Brown being part of the team in 2019 but that the team is not going to release the star receiver. That means the Steelers will be looking to deal Brown.
The Steelers will likely do that before March 17, when Brown is due a $2.5-million roster bonus. Trade talks could heat up considerably next week when every team will have representatives in Indianapolis. No trade, however, could become official until the new league year begins March 13.
The Steelers will take a considerable salary cap hit by trading Brown. While he is scheduled to count just over $22 million against their cap if he's on the team in 2019, trading him before June 1 only trims that figure to $21 million.
But the team would then not be liable for any of Brown's remaining signing bonus beyond 2019. Brown was signed to a 4-year, $68-million contract extension before the 2017 season and has three years remaining on that deal. He is scheduled to earn $12.265 million in salary in 2019, with salaries of $11.3 and $12.5 million in the final two years.
That could make the 30-year-old an attractive target for a team looking for immediate help at receiver. But his actions since the season ended could complicate the matter.
Late Monday night, for example, Brown posted a video on Instagram saying any team who wanted to acquire him should be looking at paying him more guaranteed money. This, despite the fact Saturday Brown tweeted this situation had nothing to do with money.
Despite the rocky breakup, Brown will go down as one of the best players in Steelers history.
He set an NFL record in 2018 with his sixth-consecutive 100-catch season, finishing with 104 receptions for 1,297 yards and a league-high 15 touchdown catches in 15 games.
His 11,207 receiving yards rank only behind Hines Ward (12,083). He is also second to Ward in receptions (837) and touchdowns (74). Those totals trail Ward's 1,000 receptions and 85 touchdowns as a Steeler.
Brown was selected by the Steelers in the sixth round of the 2010 draft out of Central Michigan and has played his entire career in Pittsburgh to this point.
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