Antonio Brown was successful in forcing himself out of Pittsburgh this offseason, and the end result was him signing a bigger contract and the Steelers not getting a whole lot in return. The star wide receiver essentially proved that you do not have to honor your contract if you become enough of a headache, and teams around the NFL are not happy with the way the situation turned out.
Multiple NFL executives told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler this week that they are concerned about the precedent Brown may have set by beating the Steelers into submission. One source told Fowler he thinks it’s “dangerous” the way Brown treated himself like a free agent and got his wish. The general consensus seems to be that the Steelers did not have to fold.
“It’s a problem. Other star players see this and might want to do the same,” one executive said. “I know the Steelers had a difficult situation and needed to get rid of him. But they had other options.”
The Steelers could have refused to trade Brown and fined him for not showing up to mandatory workouts, and he would have had to give back $11 million in signing bonus money if he followed through with retirement threats. His situation was much different from that of Le’Veon Bell, who refused to sign the franchise tag and was not technically under contract. However, the distraction that created for Pittsburgh was almost certainly a factor in Brown getting his way.
Unfortunately, this just seems to be the direction professional sports are headed in. We’re seeing it more and more with stars in the NBA who are under contract but want to be traded, and Brown basically became enough of a malcontent that the Steelers felt they had no choice. Sure, they could have ignored him and his tweets bashing teammates, but they want to create a positive environment heading into next season so they can get back to being a playoff team. Sticking to your guns is easier said than done in a situation like that.
