Pittsburgh Steelers Rumors: Antonio Brown Faces Uncertain Future With Team After 2018 NFL Season

The Pittsburgh Steelers are almost certain to lose Le’Veon Bell in the 2019 offseason after the running back held out for the entire year. Antonio Brown remains under contract with the team, but his future in Pittsburgh could also be in question.

Brown missed the Steelers’ Week 17 contest with the Cincinnati Bengals that Pittsburgh had to win in order to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. The wide receiver wasn't been on the same page with Ben Roethlisberger at various points this season, including a disagreement between the team's two star players at practice Wednesday, according to NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala. Brown landed on the injury report the next day and wasn’t at the Steelers’ walkthrough Saturday.

Roethlisberger and Brown both skipped Pittsburgh’s OTAs in the offseason. The wide receiver made headlines early in the season for failing to show up to the team facility for meetings. Brown also responded to a tweet that credited Roethlisberger for his success by suggesting the Steelers should trade him.

“This is not a situation that is sustainable at this moment,” Kinkhabwala said Monday, regarding Brown and the Steelers. “I am told from all ends of this organization that something will have to be done: be it a strict talking to, be it a conversation, that this can’t carry on. This is something that clearly affected the Steelers yesterday and this season at large.”

From 2013-2017, Brown put up the best numbers of any wide receiver in the NFL, leading the league in receiving yards twice while never posting fewer than 1,284 yards and nine touchdowns in a season. The All-Pro led the league with 15 receiving touchdowns in addition to his 104 catches for 1,297 yards this year.

Brown might be more expendable next season because of the emergence of JuJu Smith-Schuster as a reliable No.1 option. The 22-year-old led Pittsburgh with 111 receptions for 1,426 yards.

In the 2017 offseason, Brown and the Steelers agreed to a four-year, $68 million contract. The 30-year-old has a $22.165 million cap hit in the 2019 season.

Pittsburgh missed the playoffs for the first time in five years when the Baltimore Ravens clinched the AFC North title on the final day of the regular season.