AB's deal I think is done

[williar]

Thank you. That's all anyone is questioning. At the end of the day, for me, it's not about anything other then us getting another Super Bowl Trophy. And paying a wide reciever this much money which could hamper us from doing anything else significant in other areas of deficiency is concerning to me and others.

Are we a better team with Brown? Absolutely. But you must also take into account that we normally don't do things in this type of fiscal manner. We are the organization that is usually well stocked and if someone wants big money, we usually let them walk.

If you don't pay AB, then who are you going to give the money too? We don't know if MB is going to pass his next drug test, or LeVeon Bell for that matter. There is not a FA WR out there that I would put my faith in to be anything other than a number #2 or #3. Ben is not 24 years old. He need some help! Without Brown or Bell, who on this offense do you have any confidence in? And you also understand we don't restock our team with free agents either. (Unkown commodities!)

[feltdizz]

j

where have I said I have a problem with the signing? I've said twice already I'm good with it provided Ben is throwing the ball to him

I'm just saying that there is a discussion to be had about paying a WR that much money. we also won a SB with Hines, randel el, and cedric wilson

we also had a fantastic defense and proven vet leadership on that 2005 team. Without AB we have? Weeded out Bryant, 2 young WR's and a TE who can't stay in the field. We saw what those other WR's couldn't do in a big game last year and we saw what our D can do vs Brady.

I think its a no brainer to keep Ben happy. I really can't see why anyone would want us to go into the season without a proven #1

[papillon]

How does letting Brown go make the Steelers better?

Not simply letting him go. Since, he is due a contract and the Steelers (obviously) are willing to pay him, wouldn't shopping him around for a quality pass rusher or safety or corner back be worth it? Are they now going to make LB the highest paid RB? Then how do you improve the defense? Those two contracts are going to eat up nearly the entire cap space that the Steelers have. Can JH lead the team in sacks again? Dupree? Heyward? Tuitt? I don't think any of the young guys has proven that they can put consistent pressure on a QB. The Steelers have two players that could bring a cache of draft picks or a player and draft picks, IMO. Maybe with Heyward back in the mix the pass rush gets better, not sure what they'll do about the 2ndary though.

I believe while this discussion is happening that the Patriots have opted not to franchise Hightower and in all likelihood will either work out a deal in their favor or let him hit free agency. It wouldn't be the first time the Pats have let a popular and good player walk.

Anyhow, my goal was to stimulate a little different discussion than the same old stuff about the draft. By the way, I'm happy to have AB as a Steeler and LB as well. I was wondering if there is another way to skin the cat, that's all.

Pappy

[squidkid]

for no reason? He outplayed his contract and this game is still a business... he was paid accordingly.

yes, for no reason. it is a business. he signed to play for X amount. the steelers gave him 4 mil more than they needed to

[BradshawsHairdresser]

How does letting Brown go make the Steelers better?

I never said it did. I just don't think it's ludicrous to wonder, as some on the board have, whether a better use of the money for the TEAM long-term might be to allocate it differently.

I am glad Brown is a Steeler, and I'm glad that, as Ruthless and others pointed out, his contract gives them some flexibility if they need to move some of the money around for cap relief in future years.

[feltdizz]

I never said it did. I just don't think it's ludicrous to wonder, as some on the board have, whether a better use of the money for the TEAM long-term might be to allocate it differently.

I am glad Brown is a Steeler, and I'm glad that, as Ruthless and others pointed out, his contract gives them some flexibility if they need to move some of the money around for cap relief in future years.

From the sound of it the FO are trying to win now AND remain flexible in the long term. I also think it was smart to sign AB before other teams set the market rate higher.

[BradshawsHairdresser]

From the sound of it the FO are trying to win now AND remain flexible in the long term. I also think it was smart to sign AB before other teams set the market rate higher.

If we get 5 more years of top-flight performance from him, it may be money well spent. We shall see.

[Real Deal Steel]

If you don't pay AB, then who are you going to give the money too? We don't know if MB is going to pass his next drug test, or LeVeon Bell for that matter. There is not a FA WR out there that I would put my faith in to be anything other than a number #2 or #3. Ben is not 24 years old. He need some help! Without Brown or Bell, who on this offense do you have any confidence in? And you also understand we don't restock our team with free agents either. (Unkown commodities!)

Oh, your exactly right. We had no choice but to pay AB because we have no other real options. But we've never ponied up like this before between he and Bell. I'm not comfortable with it because it inhibits IF, we want to do anything else. I know we don't use free agency in a big way but hey, ..we never gave so much money to two (non-quarterback) players before either. So maybe anything is possible now.

[RuthlessBurgher]

yes, for no reason. it is a business. he signed to play for X amount. the steelers gave him 4 mil more than they needed to

When the Steelers restructured Ben, Timmons, and others over the last several years, were they given more money than they needed to as well?

[NorthCoast]

In the last 5 yrs the largest imbalance between offense and defense salary cap of the Superbowl winning team was the Denver Broncos at +$19M to the offense in 2015. All other winners were more balanced in cap spend.

Current projected 2017 cap for the Steelers sit at a whopping +$50M difference to the offense.

[phillyesq]

In the last 5 yrs the largest imbalance between offense and defense salary cap of the Superbowl winning team was the Denver Broncos at +$19M to the offense in 2015. All other winners were more balanced in cap spend.

Current projected 2017 cap for the Steelers sit at a whopping +$50M difference to the offense.

Interesting stat.

In some ways, I think this is attributable to the fact that everybody on offense has already been paid. On defense, Shazier and Tuitt haven't been paid. Harrison is a bargain, Dupree is still on his rookie deal, same with Burns and Davis. There has been a lot of investment on the D and there is likely to be more early in the draft again this year.

[NorthCoast]

Interesting stat.

In some ways, I think this is attributable to the fact that everybody on offense has already been paid. On defense, Shazier and Tuitt haven't been paid. Harrison is a bargain, Dupree is still on his rookie deal, same with Burns and Davis. There has been a lot of investment on the D and there is likely to be more early in the draft again this year.

That's a legitimate observation phillyesq. Which would lead to the question has any team won a SB with one side of the team on their rookie deals?? The generally balanced caps of the SB winners would suggest not. The Steelers are certainly all-in on the offensive side at the moment.

[Starlifter]

I know this is a thread about AB - and I don't begrudge him one penny of this contract. I do have to wonder how smart it is to commit so much of your cap space to a player who gets around 10 touches per game. I get it for the QB's - they touch every snap. RB's about a third to half the snaps. WR's - not so much.

Is AB one of the best in the game? yessir. Does being one of the best deserve to be amongst the highest paid? yessir. But teams paying that much to a WR seems sketchy to me.

But shoot, it's not my money. If we win a few more SB's you won't hear me complaining......

[RuthlessBurgher]

By Mike Florio
February 28, 2017, 9:00 PM EST
Steelers set artificial deadline for Antonio Brown deal, stuck to it

The NFL is a deadline-driven league. However, the Steelers and receiver Antonio Brown recently worked out a deal with an apparent deadline. So what spurred action in this specific case?

“To the Steelers’ credit, they did create an artificial deadline, which was effective,” Brown’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said on Tuesday’s PFT Live. “They wanted to get this deal done before the Combine started because Antonio was a huge priority for them to get that deal done and this would shape a lot of what they do with some of their other moves this offseason. That’s the way that it was explained to us. We respect that, you know, things are gonna change dramatically from today going forward. Today’s the first day of the Combine. Teams and agents are gonna be there meeting, talking about contracts, and it leads right into free agency. The Combine is all the way through March 6th and then March 7th is the beginning of the negotiating period. So we understood that yesterday was a very important day to get this deal done before everyone dives into their own negotiations and I think that was pivotal to get the deal done. They had talked to us from day one to get this thing done before the Combine.”

Rosenhaus explained that the negotiations commenced within 48 hours after the team’s loss to the Patriots in the AFC title game. So did Pittsburgh use as leverage the Facebook Live fiasco or some of the other concerns that clearly were leaked by the team to NFL Network and/or to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette?

“The Steelers never used that in the negotiations,” Rosenhaus said. “Of course, I spoke to the team about it and it certainly was a topic of discussion, but these were very positive negotiations. They never held that over our head. They respect Antonio Brown tremendously as a player and as a person, and they never wavered. I mean there’s no question that they addressed this with him and it was certainly something internally that Antonio and the club had several discussions about but this did not seep into the negotiations. The Steelers took the high road throughout and this was really now about Antonio and their determination or desire to keep him throughout his career and reward him. But it was really more about how do we come up with a deal that reflects Antonio as the best player at his position statistically over the last four years and taking into account the increases in the salary cap and try an model a deal with the way the Steelers structure contracts that would be fair to Antonio.”

Brown waited patiently to get a new contract, given the team’s refusal to renegotiate non-quarterback contracts with more than one year remaining. Instead of waiting deeper into the offseason, the Steelers decided to get Brown’s deal down quickly.

[FreePassCra$h]

Rosenhaus is a miserable prick but the Steelers have always had a good relationship when dealing with him.