Steelers: Antonio Brown and Art Rooney II meet, agree it’s “time to move on”

Antonio Brown and Art Rooney II finally sat down and talked out their situation. Both sides agree that it’s “time to move on.”

This saga of Antonio Brown vs. the Steelers may finally coming to an end. This story has been beaten to death more than any story involving the Steelers in quite a while. One of the biggest issues in this situation was Antonio Brown refusing to contact team owner Art Rooney II after the entire Week 17 charade.

So the two parties sitting down to hash out their differences is a concrete step toward whatever end.

Antonio Brown posted this photo of him and Art Rooney II on his twitter account Tuesday morning:

It goes without saying that Art Rooney II is keen enough to know that when posing for this photo with Brown that it would make its way onto Brown’s social media accounts. So, it does seem the two sides have publicly agreed that they will move on from each other one way or another.

This also finally puts to bed the issue that Brown has yet to speak with Rooney II. The fact that it was a face to face meeting only bodes well for both sides from a PR standpoint. It also leaves no room for leaving anything unsaid between the two sides.

The Steelers will surely do everything they can to get maximum value in a trade for Brown. Brown is still under contract for three more seasons, and while Brown’s actions require discipline, a direct release of Brown from his contract still seems highly unlikely.

When it comes to what the Steelers could potentially get back in a trade still remains to be seen. With everything that has happened so far, many believe it’s only hurt Brown’s value more than helped it. At one point the Steelers were likely to get at least a first-round pick for Brown, but now many believe they’d be lucky to get a second-rounder.

Either way, it’s unfortunate the two sides couldn’t work out their differences. Brown is an elite talent that the Steelers will have to replace one way or another. Brown never helped the Steelers win a Super Bowl, but that is hardly solely on Brown’s shoulders, if even at all. It’s just a shame the team failed to win with such a great talent on the roster for nine seasons.

All in all, it seems the Antonio Brown era in Pittsburgh is over. How will you remember Brown’s time as a Pittsburgh Steeler?