Rooney II: No release for Brown
‘Hard to envision’ All-Pro receiver with Steelers for camp
Steelers president Art Rooney II says the team won’t release Antonio Brown, but “all other options are on the table” following the wide receiver’s insubordination before and after the final regular-season game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
In an interview Thursday with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Mr. Rooney would not definitively say the Steelers would trade their All-Pro receiver, but he left no doubt that it is a strong possibility.
He even went so far as to say it would be “hard to envision” Mr. Brown being with the Steelers when they report to training camp in July.
“There’s not much we can do right now; we have time to make a decision,” Mr. Rooney said in his first public comments since Mr. Brown skipped practices and team meetings leading up to the Dec. 30 game at Heinz Field. “We’ll look at all the options. We’re not going to release him, that’s not on the table. But I will say all other options are on the table.
“Whether the situation can be reconciled and have him back on the team next year, we’re a long way away from thinking that can happen. We’re not closing the door on anything at this point.”
The Steelers cannot do anything until March 13, the first official day of the 2019 NFL season. He is due a $2.5 million roster bonus on the fifth day of the league year, or March 17, so it is likely the Steelers would make a decision by then.
Mr. Brown is scheduled to count $22,165,000 against the salary cap in 2019. If the Steelers trade him, he would still count $21,120,000 — the amount remaining from his $40.8 million signing bonus — against their cap. But the Steelers would save $15.1 million — his 2019 salary plus roster bonus — in real money.
Mr. Rooney, though, indicated that salary cap ramifications would play only a small part in whatever decision the team makes.
“That has to be taken into consideration, but, as I sit here today, I’m not going to say that’s going to box us into anything,” Mr. Rooney said. “If we decide something has to be done, we’ll figure out how to deal with that.”
Mr. Brown has refused to return repeated phone calls from Mr. Rooney and coach Mike Tomlin since the seven-time Pro Bowl receiver left Heinz Field during the game against the Bengals.
Asked specifically whether a trade was a possibility, Mr. Rooney said, “I’m not going to use those words. All options are on the table. We have two months to go before we can do anything. There’s no sense making the decision now. We’ll see how things play out. Maybe he decides to come talk to us someday and we learn more about where he is. We’ll see.”
About an hour after Mr. Rooney’s comments were posted on the Post-Gazette’s website, Mr. Brown posted a photo of himself with the Steelers president to social media with the caption, “Good Business #Boomin.”
He was not suspended by the Steelers, but he was not allowed to play against the Bengals after refusing to practice all week, skipping team meetings and not returning phone calls from team officials and some of his teammates.
Nevertheless, he showed up at Heinz Field expecting to play against the Bengals — a move that surprised and angered some of his teammates. Mr. Tomlin told him in a private meeting that he would be inactive for the game.
Mr. Brown also did not attend the team’s final meeting or personal evaluation session with Mr. Tomlin the day after the victory against the Bengals.
Mr. Rooney said he planned to talk with team leaders to see how they feel about Mr. Brown returning next season.
“That’s one of the questions we have to answer — whether we can get to a point where we all feel good about him being on the roster next year,” Mr. Rooney said. “We have a way to go before we feel good about that.”
Asked whether he could see Mr. Brown being at training camp in Latrobe, Mr. Rooney said, “As we sit here today, it’s hard to envision that. But there’s no sense in closing the door on anything today. There’s snow on the ground. We don’t have to make those decisions right now.”
Since training camp in 2018, Mr. Brown’s demeanor has been different from past years, according to a team source. Several players said they believe this latest episode is a culmination of issues with their talented teammate, not simply the result of an incident at a Dec. 26 practice that involved quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
During a morning walkthrough practice, Mr. Brown became upset when Mr. Roethlisberger said he ran the wrong route and the quarterback wanted to run the play again. Mr. Brown swore, threw the football in anger and left the practice field, according to sources. That was the last time he took part in any type of practice with the Steelers.
“My belief is there’s more to it than an incident one day at practice,” Mr. Rooney said. “That’s one of the reasons I would have liked to talk to him about it — what it was and how it got to this point.”