Antonio Brown, Steelers Agree on Restructured Contract

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown didn't hold out of training camp despite his desire to get a new contract. Now, the two sides have agreed on a restructured deal.

Brown shared a photo of himself and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, as he put pen to paper on the new contract:

Adam Schefter of ESPN reported earlier in the day that the two sides were close to a restructured deal.

The news is a turnaround from the state of negotiations earlier in the month. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported on Aug. 10 that Brown and the Steelers were not discussing a new deal and that the Steelers weren't likely to entertain a deal now.

Bleacher Report's Jason Cole also reported that a new deal was not likely to get done before the regular season, but a restructured deal remained a possibility:

Brown has developed into perhaps the best wideout in the league over the past three years. He's caught 375 passes for 5,031 yards and 31 touchdowns over that span. That includes a monster 136-1,834-10 stat line for the 2015 campaign.

In turn, the 28-year-old Central Michigan product has been a remarkable bargain. His base salary last season was $1 million with an overall cap hit of just over $7 million, which ranked 13th in the NFL at the position, according to Spotrac.

Given those numbers and his status as a top-tier receiver, it's no surprise there were similar questions about his status last summer. He explained to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com at the time that he didn't believe holding out was the answer:

"

Holdouts never go well. Just look at history. It always ends badly. It wouldn't be the best decision. I make a lot of money. I pull up to camp in Rolls-Royces.

"

Brown was in a better position to renegotiate with the Steelers before this season because his cap hit is scheduled to rise to a shade over $12.3 million. 

The bottom line is Brown has been one of the league's most dependable, productive players for an extended period. It's time for the Steelers to reward that consistent success in order to keep one of their most important players happy.