Steelers GM: No new contract for Antonio Brown
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Steelers receiver Antonio Brown will have to grin and bear his current contract for a few more years.
General manager Kevin Colbert told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Thursday that the team will not change its long-standing policy of renegotiating a player's contract that has more than one year remaining. The policy doesn't apply to quarterbacks, however.
"It was something that was here before I got here and I am sure it will continue after I am gone," Colbert said. "It is just the consistency within the organization. It is something that we believe in and it works for us, so I don't see it changing."
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Brown, who was arguably the best receiver in the league last year with 129 catches for 1,698 yards and 13 touchdowns, will enter the 2015 season as the 14th-highest paid wideout in terms of average annual salary at just under $8.4 million, according to Spotrac.com.
Colbert's proclamation comes a week after Brown's agent Drew Rosenhaus reportedly met with team brass in Jacksonville seeking to redo his client's deal. Rosenhaus secured a massive five-year, $65 million contract for Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton last week. Hilton is now the fourth-highest paid receiver in the league behind Calvin Johnson, Demaryius Thomas, and Dez Bryant.
Brown will make $6 million this season, $8.25 million next season, and $8.71 million in 2017 as part of the five-year, $41.9 million extension he received in 2012.
"Players sign contracts, we expect them to honor them," Colbert said. "If a player has one year to go other than a quarterback is when we have gotten into discussions. It has been the position of the organization and it has always been like that."
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h/t: Tribune-Review