Jul 29, 2016 3 min read

LATROBE – If wide receiver Antonio Brown hopes to get a new contract from the Steelers before the start of the season, then he might be disappointed.

General manager Kevin Colbert said Friday that the Steelers plan to stick to their mantra of not renegotiating contracts with players who have more than one year remaining on their deals. That would include Brown, who has two years remaining on a 5-year, $41-million contract he signed in 2012.

“We don’t renegotiate contracts with more than one year remaining with the exception of quarterbacks,” Colbert said at training camp. “Antonio’s under contract. He’s a great player. You can’t say enough good things about him. But he’s a professional. He respects the process, as do we. We’ll see where things end up.”

According to an ESPN report this week, Brown and agent Drew Rosenhaus are hoping the Steelers will renegotiate the receiver’s contract during training camp.

Brown, who had 136 receptions for 1,834 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, will earn $6.25 million this season. There are 25 receivers in the league who will make more than Brown.

The Steelers did make a good-faith move with Brown prior to the 2015 season, moving $2 million of his 2016 salary into that year, increasing his base salary to $8 million.

A similar move could be made again this year, but he already counts $12.3 million against the salary cap and shifting money from his 2017 salary into this season might not be possible for a team that is only $3 million under the cap.

The Steelers also would like to re-sign some players who are heading into the final year of their contracts, including guard David DeCastro, meaning Brown’s contract status could be on the backburner.

That does not, however, mean the Steelers don’t value what Brown brings to the offense.

In the past two seasons, he has caught 265 passes, the most by a player over a two-year period in league history. And his 3,532 receiving yards in that span are the second-best total.

“I don’t know how he can supersede what he did last year, but we hope he does,” Colbert said. “It’s hard to imagine that. But I don’t get caught up in the volume of catches. It’s just the types of plays he makes. We’ve learned that when it’s a close play on the sidelines and he’s called out of bounds, challenge it.

“I remember being on the field for a game against Atlanta. I remember saying that there’s no way he got his foot inbounds. He got his little toe in to make the catch. We’ve come to expect the unexpected. What he can do, it’s limitless.”

Players point to Brown’s work habits, which are legendary, as a big reason why the former sixth-round draft pick has developed into not only the best receiver in the NFL but possibly the best player regardless of position.

“It’s encouraging to see a superstar like that work as hard as he does as consistently as he does,” Colbert said. “He did it in the spring in OTAs, which aren’t even mandatory. That’s why he’s great. I don’t think he’ll ever take his foot off the gas. You almost have to worry about him doing too much rather than not enough.”

In this case, however, it appears he’ll have to do so for less money than he expected.