The Steelers have restructured Antonio Brown's 2016 salary, CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora confirms. Specifically, the team moved $4 million owed Brown from 2017 to 2016.
The boost means Antonio Brown will earn $10.25 million this season.
Brown signed a five-year, $43 million deal before the 2012 season. At the time it seemed like a lot of money for a 2010 sixth-round pick who had only one season of production under his belt (in 2011, Brown had 69 receptions for 1,108 yards and 2 touchdowns, and that was with Mike Wallace still running go routes in Pittsburgh.)
But Brown, who is now in his prime and pretty much unstoppable, has outperformed his current deal. It's why, almost a year ago, the Steelers restructured his contract, advancing him $2 million for the 2015 season.
So why the annual restructures? The Steelers typically don't renegotiate until a player is heading into the final season of his deal. Brown's contract runs through 2017, which means that Pittsburgh will have to make him the league's highest-paid wide receiver this spring (or close to it). And if they don't, fully expect someone else to do it after the '17 season.
Either way, business, as Brown likes to say, is boomin'.