Steelers expect Antonio Brown to honor his contract ‘without any issue’

Antonio Brown could be considered a strong candidate to try renegotiating his current contract, but the Pittsburgh Steelers hope and expect he will honor his current deal.

Brown, a sixth-round pick in 2010 by Pittsburgh, flashed such strong ability in his second season that the Steelers signed him to a long-term deal prior to the 2012 season. Brown’s contract is for six years at $43.04 million, and paid him an $8.5 million signing bonus.

Though the Steelers took a gamble by locking him up early in his career, the move has paid off. It has actually paid off to the point that one could argue Brown, who has scored 31 touchdowns the past three seasons and posted 1,834 receiving yards last season, is actually outperforming his deal.

GM Kevin Colbert told “Pro Football Talk Live” that he expects the contract to be honored without a problem.

“He does have two years left and we expect that to be honored without any issue,” Colbert told PFT Live. “Again, Antonio’s a unique player. We understand that and he understands our policies. I don’t ever see that changing as long as we still have the mindset that it’s been good for the organization. Again we understand that he’s a special player and we’re glad we have him for two more years anyway.”

The Steelers’ policy is to typically not extend players who have two years left on their contracts, as Brown does.

Brown will be entering his 30-year-old season when his current contract ends. Though he is in his prime now — he led the league in receptions the past two seasons — who knows how much different his skills will be by the time the 2017 ends? That could explain why the Steelers are in no hurry to extend him, and their long-standing policy of not dealing with holdouts also explains why they expect Brown to honor his current deal.