Antonio Brown skips workouts, wants new contract

[RockThatBlue]

Looking for a new contract even though he's still under contract for three more years

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000486550/article/antonio-brown-to-skip-steelers-workouts-wants-new-deal?campaign=Facebook_atn_patra

[Derakynn]

Well he is certainly worth more than he is getting paid.

[Superman]

His agent is TY Hilton's agent.

[amfootball]

What awful timing for the Steelers given Bell will miss the first three games on suspension. Brown has some leverage here to force their hand. We will see if it works. It is not like he is getting paid chump change but certainly he is worth more than he is getting.

[oldunclemark]

Looking for a new contract even though he's still under contract for three more years

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000486550/article/antonio-brown-to-skip-steelers-workouts-wants-new-deal?campaign=Facebook_atn_patra

not happening....He can play or sit....nobody redoes a deal with 3 years left

[amfootball]

not happening....He can play or sit....nobody redoes a deal with 3 years left

The Jets did with Revis.

[12isthenew18]

His agent is TY Hilton's agent.

rosenhaus has tons of players like 100+

[Bluefire4]

I expected this to happen but I thought it would be next year. I remember Brown got that contract because he showed up to training camp when Mike Wallace didn't. In hindsight maybe he should have waited until the year after.

[LJpalmbeacher2]

Good for him. I hope he gets his raise,though I won't be surprised if he doesn't.

If he was only a average player, they would cut him or threaten they will if he doesn't take a pay cut.

[oldunclemark]

The Jets did with Revis.

when was that...?

[Valpo2004]

Honestly, he has a lot of years on his contract right now and his cap hits are going to go up pretty high especially next year.  

 

He got a lot of security in the form of guaranteed money, the length of the contract is the team's security.  Rarely can the team get out of paying their guaranteed money, why should he be able to get out of 3 years worth of contract?

[shakedownstreet]

perhaps the steelers could thrown in a secret decoder ring from the bottom of a box of captain crunch

[oldunclemark]

The Jets did with Revis.

Didn't Revis opt out of his NE deal?

Jets didn't redo it...Teams dont re-do deals of players they already have with 3 years left.

What's the motivation?

[amfootball]

when was that...?

2010. He still had 3 years left on his six year deal he signed in 2007. The Jets gave him a new four year deal one week before the 2010 season began.

[Superman]

rosenhaus has tons of players like 100+

 

And they all seem to hold out at some point...

[SteelCityColt]

And they all seem to hold out at some point...

 

Didn't he fire Rosenhaus at one point? 

[jvan1973]

Didn't Revis opt out of his NE deal?

Jets didn't redo it...Teams dont re-do deals of players they already have with 3 years left.

What's the motivation?

No, the pats cut him. But that is irrelevant to the point

Revis played for the jets before. He held out with 3 years left, he got a new contract

[Superman]

Didn't he fire Rosenhaus at one point? 

 

Yup, and hired an even worse agent, Erik Burkhardt, who reps Johnny Manziel. So I guess we're getting the lesser of two evils... yeah us.

[GoPats]

Sitting out of voluntary team activities is different from an actual holdout, IMO. It's more of a subtle jab by players. If they don't rework his deal the true test will come when he's supposed to report to training camp. 

[Superman]

I'm a big fan of Antonio Brown. He's easily a top receiver, and he's underpaid. But Brian Billick was on the radio yesterday, and what he said couldn't apply more to Brown's situation. He said when they did new contracts for young players, it was basically 'we're betting on you, and you're going to be overpaid the first couple years, but the last few years are were we get even.'

 

The Steelers chose Brown over Wallace at a time where Brown really hadn't earned that kind of contract. He took it. And now, with three years left, he wants a new deal. If I were the Steelers, I'd be inclined to tell him to deal with it. I don't blame him for trying to get more money after what he's done the last two years, but I don't think they should do a new deal for him now. 

[SteelCityColt]

I'm a big fan of Antonio Brown. He's easily a top receiver, and he's underpaid. But Brian Billick was on the radio yesterday, and what he said couldn't apply more to Brown's situation. He said when they did new contracts for young players, it was basically 'we're betting on you, and you're going to be overpaid the first couple years, but the last few years are were we get even.'

 

The Steelers chose Brown over Wallace at a time where Brown really hadn't earned that kind of contract. He took it. And now, with three years left, he wants a new deal. If I were the Steelers, I'd be inclined to tell him to deal with it. I don't blame him for trying to get more money after what he's done the last two years, but I don't think they should do a new deal for him now. 

 

QFT...

 

I think I'm right in what I'm saying here but as you say when they extended (I assume it was an extension) his  contract he still had a year to run on his rookie deal and they made a clear choice to go with him over Mike Wallace. True this was off the back of a 1000 yard season. I suppose you could of argued if Brown backed his talent he could of seen out that the last year of his contract and then been in a very strong bargaining position if his production was good, seeing as he had a sub 800 yard season it might be a good thing he didn't. 

 

I'd say he's a top 5 Receiver and he's not getting Top 5 money so yeah he's underpaid but is he really that far behind? If you ignore Calvin Johnson he's not a million miles away from the guys above (I know it's easy for us to say that). 

 

Long story short I don't think he will get a new contract and this posturing will all be nothing and all it will achieve is the ire of the fans and FO. 

[Thewholefnshow28]

Sitting out of voluntary team activities is different from an actual holdout, IMO. It's more of a subtle jab by players. If they don't rework his deal the true test will come when he's supposed to report to training camp. 

 

Exactly.  These are just voluntary workouts and Brown is just making a statement and letting the Steelers know how he feels.  Now if he is not at Training Camp then you can call it a holdout, but skipping voluntary workouts is not that big of a deal especially since I imagine most vets would like to skip them.

[oldunclemark]

No, the pats cut him. But that is irrelevant to the point

Revis played for the jets before. He held out with 3 years left, he got a new contract

I do not remember that ..I thihgt eh got a bonuys and an extra yeaer.

But even that being the case..that's rare, is the real point.

What's the motivation to give a player under contract for 3 years...more money and more years. Makes no sense

[Superman]

QFT...

 

I think I'm right in what I'm saying here but as you say when they extended (I assume it was an extension) his  contract he still had a year to run on his rookie deal and they made a clear choice to go with him over Mike Wallace. True this was off the back of a 1000 yard season. I suppose you could of argued if Brown backed his talent he could of seen out that the last year of his contract and then been in a very strong bargaining position if his production was good, seeing as he had a sub 800 yard season it might be a good thing he didn't. 

 

I'd say he's a top 5 Receiver and he's not getting Top 5 money so yeah he's underpaid but is he really that far behind? If you ignore Calvin Johnson he's not a million miles away from the guys above (I know it's easy for us to say that). 

 

Long story short I don't think he will get a new contract and this posturing will all be nothing and all it will achieve is the ire of the fans and FO. 

 

All true. To add to that...

 

The league had just done a new CBA that stated rookie players weren't eligible for raises or extensions until after their third year. Because Brown was a rookie on the old CBA, he was grandfathered in on the old rules. With a year remaining on his rookie deal, and another year of restricted free agent rights, the Steelers gave him a huge (at the time) extension that he hadn't really earned, and that pretty much no other two year player would ever be offered. He was set to make $540K in 2012, and had pretty much zero leverage, yet the Steelers gave him an $8.5m signing bonus, plus another $14m through 2014, even though they basically had control of him for the next two years for less than $3m.

 

I think the Steelers have dealt with him in good faith all along, and more. It's kind of a slap in the face that he's talking about holding out now, and I wouldn't blame them for digging in. It's still early to get fussy about this; like others have said, it's not quite a hold out, yet. Hopefully he shows up during their offseason program. 

[oldunclemark]

True..Brown will almost certainly play for Pittsburgh because he is getting a good dollar...

Its just hypocritical for players to complain that management can cut them at any time

.....and then threaten to hold out...at any time..effectively...the same thing

[Superman]

No, the pats cut him. But that is irrelevant to the point

Revis played for the jets before. He held out with 3 years left, he got a new contract

 

Technically accurate, but really not comparable. Revis was in Year 4 of a rookie contract and was set to make $1m. 

[Superman]

True..Brown will almost certainly play for Pittsburgh because he is getting a good dollar...

Its just hypocritical for players to complain that management can cut them at any time

.....and then threaten to hold out...at any time..effectively...the same thing

 

I don't find it hypocritical. Players hold out for better terms specifically because teams can cut them at anytime. That's the nature of a hard cap and non-guaranteed contracts.

 

I don't have a problem with a player trying to maximize his value at the height of his market. I just think Brown is taking advantage of a team that's been incredibly generous with him. 

[amfootball]

True..Brown will almost certainly play for Pittsburgh because he is getting a good dollar...

Its just hypocritical for players to complain that management can cut them at any time

.....and then threaten to hold out...at any time..effectively...the same thing

Yes, players tend to cry a lot when they are cut but rally when they hold out .. it is what it is in the cap/FA era. I don't have an issue with either side doing what is legal to do by the CBA but the double standard gets annoying ...

[jvan1973]

True..Brown will almost certainly play for Pittsburgh because he is getting a good dollar...

Its just hypocritical for players to complain that management can cut them at any time

.....and then threaten to hold out...at any time..effectively...the same thing

Then would it not be hypocritical for an owner to cut a player that's under contract?

[NewColtsFan]

Without going over to Spotrac to check out the details of his three remaining years,  my guess is Brown has very little guaranteed money left on his current deal.

 

If the Steelers are not prepared to extend and not prepared to tear-up the current deal for a new deal,  they might want to consider converting some of his remaining three years of salary into more guaranteed money.

 

Perhaps not everything Brown wants,  but it might be a compromise....

 

I heard someone suggest this as a compromise for Adrian Peterson,  who reportedly has ZERO guaranteed money on the three years and $45 million left on his current contract.

[SteelCityColt]

Without going over to Spotrac to check out the details of his three remaining years,  my guess is Brown has very little guaranteed money left on his current deal.

 

If the Steelers are not prepared to extend and not prepared to tear-up the current deal for a new deal,  they might want to consider converting some of his remaining three years of salary into more guaranteed money.

 

Perhaps not everything Brown wants,  but it might be a compromise....

 

I heard someone suggest this as a compromise for Adrian Peterson,  who reportedly has ZERO guaranteed money on the three years and $45 million left on his current contract.

 

Hmm I'm not entirely sure on the workings of it as there is a restructure bonus and I'm not great on contracts as it is but from what I can see he got a signing bonus of $8.5 Milllion which is the only guaranteed money of the contact (total value of $41,960,000). Now there is also this restructure bonus which doesn't seem to factor as guaranteed but does count for dead money. 

 

So what you're saying about offering up more guaranteed money as a compromise would make sense as they are very unlikely to cut him and even if they did want to for any reason they are going to get stung on the dead money as it is. I'm just not sure about the mechanics of doing this. 

 

Hopefully Superman can clarify  

[Superman]

Hmm I'm not entirely sure on the workings of it as there is a restructure bonus and I'm not great on contracts as it is but from what I can see he got a signing bonus of $8.5 Milllion which is the only guaranteed money of the contact (total value of $41,960,000). Now there is also this restructure bonus which doesn't seem to factor as guaranteed but does count for dead money. 

 

So what you're saying about offering up more guaranteed money as a compromise would make sense as they are very unlikely to cut him and even if they did want to for any reason they are going to get stung on the dead money as it is. I'm just not sure about the mechanics of doing this. 

 

Hopefully Superman can clarify

 

It's true that his guaranteed money is done, but like you say, there's zero chance he'd be cut. 

 

Just for clarification, roster bonuses and restructure bonuses aren't typically paid at signing or reported as guaranteed, but in his case, they've already been paid. So moving forward, they aren't really part of the equation, aside from the dead money that they've left on the books. 

 

He wants more money. I don't think he's worried at all about what's guaranteed right now or the structure of his contract. 

[amfootball]

Without going over to Spotrac to check out the details of his three remaining years,  my guess is Brown has very little guaranteed money left on his current deal.

 

If the Steelers are not prepared to extend and not prepared to tear-up the current deal for a new deal,  they might want to consider converting some of his remaining three years of salary into more guaranteed money.

 

Perhaps not everything Brown wants,  but it might be a compromise....

 

I heard someone suggest this as a compromise for Adrian Peterson,  who reportedly has ZERO guaranteed money on the three years and $45 million left on his current contract.

That could work but I think Brown wants a top 5 contract. Whether or not the Steelers are prepared to do that and void his old one with a new one remains to be seen. They have 9 mil on their cap right now but still have to sign their draft picks.

[SteelCityColt]

It's true that his guaranteed money is done, but like you say, there's zero chance he'd be cut. 

 

Just for clarification, roster bonuses and restructure bonuses aren't typically paid at signing or reported as guaranteed, but in his case, they've already been paid. So moving forward, they aren't really part of the equation, aside from the dead money that they've left on the books. 

 

He wants more money. I don't think he's worried at all about what's guaranteed right now or the structure of his contract. 

 

Thank you as ever for sharing your knowledge.

 

As you say the crux of the matter is he wants to get paid more and the Steelers have no reason to, as you say they've treated him pretty well and sure he's producing like a top 5 receiver but it's a business. They bought low and are reaping the benefits.

 

Besides how is their cap situation overall? I know they've probably improved somewhat with the retirements but looking long term while they may have more cap space in future they don't have a whole lot of talent long term, They need to reload and unless they have some amazing drafts that means filling some holes with FAs. I'm surprised they've not picked up De Castro's 5th year yet, I wonder if that means a long term deal is in the offing this season?