INDIANAPOLIS -- Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert confirmed Wednesday that interest in a trade for receiver Antonio Brown has increased.
But while reiterating the team's stance that the Steelers won't give Brown away just to be rid of him, Colbert also said there is no timeframe in which he would like to get a deal completed.
Brown is due a roster bonus of $2.5 million on March 17. Colbert, however, said that would not be a driving force for the team to trade the disgruntled receiver prior to that date.
"We understand where we are contractually and we've talked through different scenarios," Colbert said Wednesday at the NFL Scouting Combine. "When we get to that point, we'll make that determination, because there may be more teams interested or bidding going on at that point. Then it's, OK, maybe you have to make a move to keep that bidding going. But if you do that, what does it do to the rest of it? I don't know because I don't know what the compensation will be. We're aware of where it is. We're worried about today. We'l worry about tomorrow, about March 17 down the road.
While Colbert wouldn't rule out having Brown as a member of the Steelers in 2019, it seems unlikely. But he acknowledged the Steelers could keep Brown past that March 17 deadline in order to get the most in return for the All-Pro receiver, saying it could even run into June, if necessary.
"Antonio Brown is one of the best players in the National Football League," Colbert said. "We'd like to have him on our team, so if you lose a player like that, if you decide to take a player like that off your team, you best have the compensation that will justify removing that player. And that would be significant compensation either in the form of a draft pick or picks, or a player and picks just so you can try to balance off the great loss that will happen if you lose a player like that."
The Steelers would prefer to trade Brown out of the AFC. But Colbert did say the team will take the best deal possible when it comes to moving the talented receiver.
"Antonio is one of the best players in the National Football League," Colbert said. "For us to take him from our team and let him go somewhere else, not only would we be subtracting a great player but we also may be giving him to a competitor. So we have to benefit. It has to benefit us, because why would we just want to benefit another team? People may or not believe us, but that’s our stance. We need significant compensation for this to happen. I can’t speak to what other teams feel, but I know this: I totally have faith in Antonio Brown, not only as a football player, but as a father and as a man."
The situation with Brown has arisen from the receiver's decision to skip out on the team prior to its regular season finale against Cincinnati. Brown left the team late in the week and would not return phone calls from team president Art Rooney II or coach Mike Tomlin.
Then, after the conclusion of the season, Brown asked the team for a trade. Rooney and Colbert met with Brown and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, last week in Florida and told the receiver they would try to trade him if it was beneficial to the team to do so.
That process is expected to heat up considerably starting this week and beyond.
"Right now, everything is preliminary in the exchange for a deal," Colbert said. "The teams are doing the same things we're doing, which is learning about this draft. There might be a point in time where we come out with this draft and it might not be as strong as we think it is. We might be, 'Boy, the compensation has to go up.' Because why would you give away a great player when you're not going to get the exchange in return? And it could go the other way. We acknowledge that. Maybe it's really strong, and then you go the other way. And then we're, 'OK, if we can just get multiple (picks) or something like that. We can still make ourselves a better team.
"But we do interact (with other teams) formally and informally throughout this week."
But Colbert bristled Wednesday at the suggestion the Steelers' locker room was in disarray after going through the situation with Brown and earlier in the season with Le'Veon Bell's decision to sit out the season.
"I really don't agree with the perception that there's huge drama within the locker room," Colbert said. "Coach Tomlin treats our players like men. He gives them the opportunity to be a man and he tries to grow them not only as professional football players, but as fathers, brothers and just as men. So, really, I have complete disagreement with the perception."