Antonio Brown Agrees To Deal Making Him Highest Paid WR In NFL

Brown and the Steelers have not been back to the Super Bowl since his rookie year, and they were unsuccessful in that venture against the Green Bay Packers.

By his incredibly high standards, the 28-year-old had a somewhat disappointing 2016 campaign.

Last year, fresh off of a Super Bowl win, the Denver Broncos rewarded linebacker Von Miller with a six-year, $114.5 million contract, the richest for any player in the National Football League who does not throw the ball.

Over that four-season stretch, Brown has produced 481 receptions for 6,315 yards and 43 touchdowns. While accumulating at least 106 receptions, 1,284 yards and eight touchdowns in each of the last four seasons, Brown’s new extension is well-deserved.

The team also secured another player: running back Le’Veon Bell.

While Bell has been productive when available, he’s been suspended twice for violating the league’s substance abuse policy and was unable to finish Pittsburgh’s final game of the season in each of the past three years because of injuries. He missed 11 games the past two seasons.

With Brown locked up until 2021, the Steelers will now turn their focus to extending running back Le’Veon Bell. But Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson, the league’s highest-paid running back with an anticipated $18 million salary cap hit this year, could have his contract restructured. Rooney went on to say how much Brown has influenced the Steelers’ success and that he believes that the wide receiver is “capable of continuing to be that kind of player“.

Brown reached his fourth straight Pro Bowl in 2016, and he earned first-team All-Pro honors for the third year in a row.

Placing the exclusive rights tag on Bell was a no-brainer.

Had the Steelers simply placed the regular franchise tag or a transition tag on Bell, you can bet there would have been some teams that would take a run at signing him.

If JPP plays on the tag, the Giants will have to fork over somewhere in the neighborhood of $17 million.