Gerry: Did Steelers make a rash decision to sign Brown?

[SteelerEmpire]

******* When Mike Wallace did not report with the rest of his teammates on the first day of training camp, the Steelers wasted little time reacting to his holdout: They called Antonio Brown’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, and summoned him to Latrobe as fast as they could.
******* Within two days, the Steelers and Rosenhaus had crafted a new contract for Brown – a six-year extension worth $42.5 million, a big number for a player who was considered the No. 2 receiver and was entering just his third season in the league...



LINK: http://plus.sites.post-gazette.com/i...-to-sign-brown

[Mojouw]

"...is one of the few receivers in the league who can run past any defensive back, no matter the coverage."

"...would never be able to meet Wallace’s contract demands and decided to make sure they would at least get one of their top receivers under contract."

These are the only parts of the whole article that really make any sense. The rest is speculation and an attempt to gin up page views. When the Steelers did this they were coming off a 12-4 season and viewed as a few less injuries away from another Super Bowl run. Then the Wallace drama begins, this is how the Steelers choose to end it and no one seems to question it. The team then proceeds to underachieve and now the local sports guys start flogging this issue.

I think the Wallace issue is a real simple one. The Steelers have a cap value in mind for Wallace's role in the offense. If Wallace agrees to it and stays here, the Steelers will be a more talented and diverse team for it. If not, he will leave and there will likely be no shortage of suitors willing to pay Wallace big $$ to have 1200 yard 8 touchdown seasons for them.

I think if (at least this is what I would do if I was on a Steelers' beat) one wanted to write an article that "exposes" the Steelers bad roster management practices, I would examine why the Steelers felt that Leftwhich and Batch were enough at the QB spot. Or why Ryan Mundy was allowed to be the primary (and early in the season) only option at safety for so long. Basically there are a number of issues I believe that Steelers management could be questioned on; avoiding both their primary receivers requiring expensive extensions in the same off-season is not one of them. Quite frankly if they wanted to "overpay" Wallace, it is now likely easier as they have cost certainty with Brown.

Sorry for the rant, sports media and their "probing analysis" gets my goat every time.

[GBMelBlount]

No.

[fansince'76]

That signing, that decision, is the reason the Steelers will not be able to re-sign Wallace, who is an unrestricted free agent. If they consider Brown to be their No. 1 receiver – and his signing would certainly suggest that – then the Steelers are not going to sign Wallace to a contract bigger than the one they gave Brown. Their pay structure doesn’t operate that way.

How does Brown's signing suggest that he's their #1 receiver when Wallace REJECTED an even LARGER offer at around the same time? Brown signed on the dotted line, Wallace did not. It's that simple.

Playing Dulac's little game of 20/20 hindsight, if Brown was overpaid for 2012 based on performance, then had the Steelers come up on the guaranteed money for Wallace (which from what I understand was the real sticking point in the negotiations), then he would have been REALLY overpaid this past season based on his performance, no?

I'm with Mojouw - the media and their "ANAL-y-sis" tend to irk the shit out of me.

[steelreserve]

While I think we could've secured Brown's services for a little bit less than we paid (maybe a few million overall), I don't think it was rushed or foolish. Much ado about nothing.

[TMC]

With the franchise tag set to be $10.35M in 2013, I do not think $7M per season is too much for Brown. Now, the new TV deals kick in next year. If it expands the cap like I think it will, the franchise number for a WR could be over $13M a season.

If that comes to fruition, Brown will be a steal at $7M per season for 4 more years.