Signing Antonio Brown to his five-year, $72.71million contract. Monday was the easy part for the Steelers. Now comes their more difficult job.
Keeping Le’Veon Bell long term? Signing Stephon Tuitt to a new deal? Improving their pass rush?
Well, yes, those, too. But there’s something more important to the health and welfare of Brown, Ben Roethlisberger and what is supposed to be among the most dynamic offenses in the NFL – finding another receiver (or two) besides Brown to catch the ball.
If they cannot do that, then Brown could be not just the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL, but the best-dressed mannequin because defenses can render him almost useless if they do not have to cover anyone else.
Or, does not anyone remember what the Miami Dolphins did to him in the sixth game of the season? Brown said he was triple-teamed at times in that game when he caught just four passes for 39 yards, which actually led all their receivers that day except for Le’Veon Bell’s five catches for 55 yards.
Others took notice quickly, deciding that blanketing Brown and letting others such as Cobi Hamilton float free in their secondary was the best way to thwart the Steelers passing game.
Brown did not have a 100-yard game receiving over his final six of the regular season and had just four this past year. That compares to the nine he had in 2015, including one against Oakland of 284 yards.
While he became only the second player in history to have four consecutive 100-catch seasons, his numbers were down. He caught 106 passes for 1,284 yards this past season compared to 136 for 1,834 in 2015. His catches and yards last season were the fewest of that four-game stretch.
The reason for that was not Brown slowing down at age 28, but the attention from defenses he received because of the lack of anyone else to target after injuries to Markus Wheaton, Sammie Coates, Darrius Heyward-Bey and tight end Ladarius Green.
So, how do their receivers stack up for 2017 after Brown? There is slot receiver Eli Rogers, whom both Roethlisberger and coordinator Todd Haley believe is a good one. After that, they have no one they can count on.
Wheaton is a free agent they have shown little interest in bringing back. Coates said he had groin surgery, might need hand surgery and knee surgery and does not have the confidence of his coaches even if all of that were fixed. Green began the season with lingering headaches, played in six games and then ended the season in a five-week concussion protocol. They cannot count on him being healthy for an entire season. Heyward-Bey had a sprained foot, played in 10 games and caught just six passes.
Martavis Bryant? He was suspended all of last season for failing drug tests, his second suspension in the past two seasons. He has applied to the NFL for reinstatement, which could come over the next two weeks if the league does not drag its feet.
Bryant has all kinds of talent, as he proved in 2014 and 2015 when he caught 76 passes for an average 17.3 yards and 14 touchdowns in just 21 games (eight starts).
Steelers president Art Rooney II said it all a few weeks ago regarding Bryant: “I’m not sure at this point you can use the words, ‘count on him.’ ... Obviously, he has a tremendous amount of talent and potential. To the extent that we can have him on the team and have him bring his talent to its fullest potential would be great, but we got a ways to go before any of us understand where that is.”
Where’s that leave the Steelers with dependability? Hamilton and Demarcus Ayers. They need more than that going into 2017 to complement Brown and Rogers.
Brown said a few times in 2016 that other receivers had to “step up.” He said it again at his news conference Tuesday that celebrated his new contract.
“We have to find a way to get the job done, whatever this job entails. We all have to step up.”
The truth is, the Steelers right now cannot count on any of those players to be the “other” receiver, the No. 2 man who can help open up things for Brown and Roethlisberger and make their offense great again. That receiver might, in fact, be attending the Indianapolis combine this week.
The Steelers will need to draft another one. They have had great success doing so in the third round and later for quite some time.
They won’t find another Antonio Brown in the sixth round, but they do need to find a decent sidekick for him somewhere.
Antonio Brown
