Steelers sign Brown to deal making him among NFL’s highest paid
PITTSBURGH — The Steelers signed wide receiver Antonio Brown to a new five-year contract on Monday, following through on a promise the club made last summer to take care of the perennial All-Pro as soon as he had just one season left on the six-year deal he signed in 2012.
Brown’s new contract runs through 2021 and will pay him over $72 million and makes him one of the highest paid nonquarterbacks in the league.
The 28-year-old Brown is one of just two players in NFL history to catch at least 100 passes in four consecutive seasons, including 106 receptions for 1,284 yards and 12 touchdowns for the Steelers in 2016 as the team won the AFC North and made it all the way to the AFC championship game before falling to New England.
The new contract more than doubles the six-year, $42 million contract Brown signed in 2012, one that turned into one of the better bargains in the NFL when Brown morphed from sixth-round flyer to star.
His high profile hasn’t come without the occasional pitfall. He drew a strong rebuke from coach Mike Tomlin after livestreaming from the locker room following Pittsburgh’s playoff victory over Kansas City, a violation of the league’s social media policy.
Brown apologized for the misstep. Colbert and team president Art Rooney II have no concerns about Brown’s occasional eccentricities becoming an issue going forward.
Rooney called them “little annoyances, with the emphasis on little” shortly after the AFC title game loss to New England.