Pittsburgh Steelers ink Antonio Brown to 5 year 42.5 million dollar extension

[RuthlessBurgher]

I don't remember that many touchdowns, but he's definitely a heckuva player!

He only has 2 TD's catches in actual regular season play (against New England and Cleveland) plus 1 kick return for TD (against Tennessee) and 1 punt return for TD (against Cincinnati).

The other 5 TD catches (2 against Atlanta, 1 against Philadelphia, 1 against Detroit, and 1 against Denver) all took place during preseason games.

Touchdown production is one HUGE difference between Wallace and Sanders...(Mike has 24 TD catches in 34 games...Antonio has 2 TD catches in 25 games).

I wouldn't surprised if the overall terms of Wallace's contract would be similar (although in Antonio's case, it's 5 years on top of the current season with a half million dollar salary...6 total...whereas Mike's would be 5 years flat), but the guaranteed money on a Wallace deal (which is the most important part of these contracts) would likely be double or more than Brown got in terms of a signing bonus.

[aggiebones]

This is a mess now. Should not have signed brown til later in camp. He doesnt need this now. They could have signed him after he survived some camp. It's a shot at Wallace and likely cause a complete impasse. Foolish.

[Oviedo]

+1

Wallace is a speed merchant and a good one at that.

Wallace may be a speed merchant but IMO he is less of a WR than Brown and obviously less of a team player.

[Oviedo]

This is a mess now. Should not have signed brown til later in camp. He doesnt need this now. They could have signed him after he survived some camp. It's a shot at Wallace and likely cause a complete impasse. Foolish.

Wallace deserves every shot he gets. The Steelers made it easy for him to understand--show up and we keep talking, don't show and we are done! Pretty simple but Wallace deliberately tweaked the noses of the organization for no reason.

I have no issue with the next shot he gets being a one way trip out of town.

[Oviedo]

He only has 2 TD's catches in actual regular season play (against New England and Cleveland) plus 1 kick return for TD (against Tennessee) and 1 punt return for TD (against Cincinnati).

The other 5 TD catches (2 against Atlanta, 1 against Philadelphia, 1 against Detroit, and 1 against Denver) all took place during preseason games.

Touchdown production is one HUGE difference between Wallace and Sanders...(Mike has 24 TD catches in 34 games...Antonio has 2 TD catches in 25 games).

I wouldn't surprised if the overall terms of Wallace's contract would be similar (although in Antonio's case, it's 5 years on top of the current season with a half million dollar salary...6 total...whereas Mike's would be 5 years flat), but the guaranteed money on a Wallace deal (which is the most important part of these contracts) would likely be double or more than Brown got in terms of a signing bonus.

But in all fairness isn't the TD production really an artifact of the routes they were asked to run? Wallace was not asked to make the tough catches across the middle of the field.

[ikestops85]

But in all fairness isn't the TD production really an artifact of the routes they were asked to run? Wallace was not asked to make the tough catches across the middle of the field.

So what you are saying is Wallace is always having to run the deep routes based on play calling. I guess it's not his fault people think he is a one trick pony. If he never gets the chance to run different routes why are people saying he isn't good running the route tree? Last year Wallace was finally getting some under routes, like the drag, and he was successful running them. That's why his YPC was less then previous years.

I'm glad they signed Brown. I love the kids attitude and his work ethic. I believe he will become a leader much like Hines was. My congratulations to the young man.

[RuthlessBurgher]

But in all fairness isn't the TD production really an artifact of the routes they were asked to run? Wallace was not asked to make the tough catches across the middle of the field.

The "Wallace runs only go routes" myth is constantly regurgitated. Dude's effective on slants, screens, hitches, comebacks, etc. Here is an analysis of Wallace's performance from various depth levels through 6 games last season:

Short passes (aerials thrown downfield 10 or fewer yards)

• Wallace has 205 yards on 22 short pass attempts, which equates to a 9.3 short pass YPA.



Medium passes (11-19 yards downfield)

• Wallace has 117 yards on 11 medium pass attempts for a 10.6 medium YPA.



Deep passes (20-29 yards downfield)

• Wallace has been targeted on a deep pass only one time this season and it didn't result in a completion or a penalty, so he has zero yards in this category.



Bomb passes (30 or more yards downfield)

• Wallace has 329 yards on nine bomb passes for a 36.6 bomb YPA.



Vertical (all medium, deep and bomb passes)

• Wallace has been targeted for 21 vertical passes and posted 446 yards on those throws, giving him a 21.2 vertical YPA.



Stretch vertical (all deep/bomb passes -- the ones designed to really stretch defensive coverage)

• Wallace has 10 targets on stretch vertical passes and posted 329 yards on those aerials. That equates to a 32.9 stretch vertical YPA.

[Oviedo]

The "Wallace runs only go routes" myth is constantly regurgitated. Dude's effective on slants, screens, hitches, comebacks, etc. Here is an analysis of Wallace's performance from various depth levels through 6 games last season:

Short passes (aerials thrown downfield 10 or fewer yards)

• Wallace has 205 yards on 22 short pass attempts, which equates to a 9.3 short pass YPA.



Medium passes (11-19 yards downfield)

• Wallace has 117 yards on 11 medium pass attempts for a 10.6 medium YPA.



Deep passes (20-29 yards downfield)

• Wallace has been targeted on a deep pass only one time this season and it didn't result in a completion or a penalty, so he has zero yards in this category.



Bomb passes (30 or more yards downfield)

• Wallace has 329 yards on nine bomb passes for a 36.6 bomb YPA.



Vertical (all medium, deep and bomb passes)

• Wallace has been targeted for 21 vertical passes and posted 446 yards on those throws, giving him a 21.2 vertical YPA.



Stretch vertical (all deep/bomb passes -- the ones designed to really stretch defensive coverage)

• Wallace has 10 targets on stretch vertical passes and posted 329 yards on those aerials. That equates to a 32.9 stretch vertical YPA.

No one said always or only but it is about the percentage of the routes.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Antonio Brown: Staying with the Steelers is something special
Posted by Michael David Smith on July 28, 2012, 3:32 PM EDT

Antonio Brown’s new deal keeps him under contract to the Steelers through the 2017 season, and Brown thinks that’s just great.

“It’s special,” Brown said at a press conference to announce his signing. “I’m with a unique organization as the Steelers. Knowing that I’m going to be around here for long-term, it’s something amazing. It’s really special, something I take pride in and know it’s a tremendous honor. It provides me with some security and allows me to play football and focus on winning games.”

Brown said that he has kept his focus completely on football and hasn’t even spoken to anyone in his family about his new contract. That’s part of the approach to the game that makes the Steelers think Brown will be worth every penny of his new $42.5 million deal.

“I haven’t even taken time to focus on it. Being at training camp, my focus right now is to be in great shape, get prepared to play preseason games, and get ready for the year,” Brown said. “Winning is all about what’s important now. What’s important now is me focusing on training camp, getting on the same page, learning the offense, and getting ready for the year.”

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin answered a question about Brown’s role on the team, saying that Brown’s new contract doesn’t necessarily make him too expensive to play special teams. Tomlin also said, however, that the Steelers believe they have some young players in camp who are capable of taking the punt return duties over from Brown.

Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert declined to answer a question about what Brown’s contract means for the future of receiver Mike Wallace in Pittsburgh.

“Today’s about Antonio. If you have questions about Antonio, great. If not, we’re not going to address them,” Colbert said.

The Steelers are in no mood to talk about Wallace right now. But they’re feeling great about Brown’s future. And the feeling is mutual.

[URL]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/28/antonio-brown-staying-with-the-steelers-is-something-special/[/URL]

[RuthlessBurgher]

No one said always or only but it is about the percentage of the routes.

The Steelers have no problem putting up yards. The Steelers do have a problem putting up points.

Both Wallace and Brown put up over 1100 yards last year.

But Wallace has caught 24 TD passes in 34 games over 3 seasons while Brown has caught 2 TD passes in 25 games over 2 seasons.

With points at a premium (coming off a season in which we were 21st in scoring offense), I consider a guy who averages 8 TD catches per year as more valuable than a guy who averages 1 TD catch per year. A difference that drastic simply cannot be explained away by the types of routes guys are asked to run. Wes Welker runs a ton of short crossing routes, but he still caught 9 TD passes last season and 7 TD passes the year before that.