Antonio Brown watch-slash-stakeout is in full effect, and the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver continues to contribute to the offseason drama of his making.
This week, Brown has already requested a trade from the Steelers and expressed a chance to "do what I want" with a Lil Uzi Vert-inspired farewell Twitter post to Pittsburgh. On Friday, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Brown will meet with Steelers president Art Rooney II in Florida to discuss the current impasse.
On Saturday, he was back on Twitter to answer any questions his followers could conjure up for an impromptu "Ask Me Anything" (AMA).
First up, "What caused the conflict between you and Ben Roethlisberger?"
Asked whether his desire to leave Pittsburgh had to do with signing a new deal, Brown pointed to his current lucrative deal as to why it's not all about the Benjamins.
Brown signed a four-year, $68 million extension with the Steelers in Feb. 2017. The receiver still has three years left on that deal. Brown carries a $22.2 million cap hit, the highest among all receivers, and is owed $12.6 million in base salary in 2019.
In response to a comment that Brown shouldn't have sat out Pittsburgh's season finale against the Bengals if he loved the sport, the receiver called out Steelers coach Mike Tomlin for telling Brown's teammates that he "quit" on the team and made him out to be the "bad guy." The receiver said he could "not stand with that."
Brown didn't play in the regular-season finale after skipping a walkthrough practice on Saturday. The receiver was listed as questionable with a knee injury.
Regarding his impending meeting with Rooney, Brown said he is looking forward to being treated "as Antonio Brown the man not AB84 the player."
