The Steelers already have lost their All-Pro halfback for the first three games of the 2015 season, pending Le’Veon Bell’s appeal, and now they could lose their All-Pro wide receiver for a stretch.
Antonio Brown, under contract for three more seasons, has asked the Steelers for a new contract and is prepared to sit out until he gets one, the Post-Gazette has confirmed.
The Steelers have long had a policy that they will not negotiate new contracts with players until they reach the final year of their current contract. Exceptions were made for their starting quarterbacks, which they have reworked with two years remaining on their deal. Even Ben Roethlisberger waited until the final season of his contract before he recently signed a new five-year, $99 million deal.
Fox Sports originally broke the news that Brown will not attend the Steelers voluntary conditioning program and is considering holding out of required minicamp in June and training camp which starts in late July.
Brown, represented by agent Drew Rosenhaus, did not attend the start of the voluntary conditioning program Monday at the Steelers facility on the South Side. He did work out Friday at their facility.
Brown led the NFL with 129 receptions and 1,698 yards, both Steelers records, in 2014. He is scheduled to earn a $6 million salary and count $9.8 million against the team’s salary cap in 2015. He is to earn a salary of $8,250,000 in 2016 and $8,710,000 in 2017.
He signed a six-year, $43 million contract at the 2012 training camp after fellow wide receiver Mike Wallace turned down their offer in the final year of his contract. Wallace signed in 2013 as a free agent with Miami for five years, $60 million.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the Steelers have had two of the higher-rated wide receivers at their facility recently as part of the 30 prospects they can meet with in Pittsburgh before the draft.
Jaelen Strong of Arizona State visited Friday and Breshad Perriman of Central Florida was there April 10.
It has been some time since they have had a veteran hold out. Hines Ward held out into the early part of the preseason in 2005, but he was entering the final year of his contract and, once he reported to camp, the Steelers negotiated a new one.
In 1988, linebacker Mike Merriweather held out the entire season, after which he was traded to Minnesota for a first-round draft pick. But things have changed since then and most of the leverage in a holdout goes to the club over a player under contract. The collective bargaining agreement signed in 2011 allows for stiff financial penalties for a veteran holdout under contract.
Teams can fine a player nearly $70,000 for skipping the mandatory minicamp and $30,000 for each day of training camp he misses. If Brown holds out for the first six days of training camp, he can be compelled to return an additional 15 percent of his pro-rated signing bonus of nearly $3.8 million or $570,000. So, if Brown were to hold out through minicamp and the first six days of training camp, the amount he could owe the Steelers would be $670,000, although they can lower that or eliminate it at their option. The Steelers could fine him an additional 1 percent of his pro-rated bonus (or $38,000) for each day he misses up to another $380,000 over 10 more days.
Once the season starts, if Brown would continue to hold out, the Steelers could deduct one-seventeenth of his $6 million salary for each week he misses, or $353,000 per week. Plus, another one-fourth of his pro-rated signing bonus could be recovered if he would miss the first regular-season game, which would be an additional $950,000. After four missed weeks of the regular season, the team could then collect an additional one-seventeenth ($223,529) of his pro-rated signing bonus on top of the $353,000 weekly salary he would miss.
The Steelers would not be required to fine him at all, but they would be permitted to do so under the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement.
Schedule announcement
The NFL announced it will reveal its entire regular-season schedule at 8 p.m. today on NFL Network.
Ed Bouchette: ebouchette@post-gazette.com and Twitter @EdBouchette.
The Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo, Dan Gigler and Jerry Micco previewed the NFL Draft last week. Listen to the podcast below.
First Published: April 20, 2015, 5:14 p.m.
Updated: April 20, 2015, 7:01 p.m.
