Antonio Brown met with Steelers owner Art Rooney II, says both agreed 'it is time to move on'

Antonio Brown posted a smiling picture of himself with Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II and said it was a great meeting.

And it doesn’t seem to have changed much, as far as Brown’s desire to not be a Steeler anymore.

Brown, who has requested a trade, said the meeting went well but he and Rooney “both agreed that it is time to move on.”

That doesn’t mean the situation isn’t still quite complicated.

Will Antonio Brown be traded?

As you’ve probably heard by now, the Steelers would take on a $21.1 million dead salary-cap hit if they traded Brown. That’s a lot of money to not have a Hall of Famer on your team in 2019.

Still, it doesn’t seem like there’s much common ground between the Steelers and Brown. The relationship seems damaged beyond repair, giving Brown’s actions in Week 17 that led to him being deactivated and then shots at quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and coach Mike Tomlin.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter said Brown’s agent Drew Rosenhaus joined the meeting between the receiver and Rooney. Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert and team vice president of football and business administration Omar Khan joined the meeting as well. Schefter said everyone agreed a trade would be for the best.

Then there’s this piece of complication: Brown and Rosenhaus have not been given permission to speak with other teams about a trade, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said.

Brown’s saga could be the biggest news of NFL offseason

It’s rare to see a player as good as Brown traded in his prime.

Adding another layer to the offseason’s most intriguing story, NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero said he polled executives of seven teams and the consensus was that the Steelers might only get a mid-round pick for Brown, maybe a third-rounder. Pelissero added that the price could go up, and one source thought the Steelers could get a first-round pick and a quality player in a trade, but the market for a 31-year old receiver who has made plenty of waves (and we’re referring to “Mr. Big Chest” here) isn’t going to be an obvious one.

The Steelers will apparently try to work on a trade, although Brown and Rosenhaus won’t be able to help in that process. Then perhaps Brown will be traded, though nobody seems to know what the fair trade price is. After that, the Steelers will manage around that $21 million in dead cap space left from trading one of the best receivers in NFL history.

No, this won’t be easy.

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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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