Art Rooney II: No trade talks yet involving Antonio Brown

Antonio Brown will remain property of the Pittsburgh Steelers for at least the next two months — until the new NFL season begins.

Beyond that?

Steelers president Art Rooney isn’t optimistic that Brown’s nine-year career with the organization will extend past mid-March.

“There aren’t many signs out there that that is going to happen,” Rooney said Wednesday in a meeting with select beat reporters. “But like I said before: We haven’t made any decisions, and we are going to take our time.”

Rooney is still waiting to hear from Brown after the 30-year-old receiver exited Heinz Field during the Steelers’ season-ending game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Dec. 30. Brown did not practice in the days leading up to the game because of an alleged knee injury and was declared inactive after he did not return coach Mike Tomlin’s calls and skipped the team walkthrough and meeting.

Since the Steelers concluded a 9-6-1 season less than three weeks ago, Rooney also has tried to reach Brown to no avail.

“That part is disappointing as well,” Rooney said. “I would have liked to have had the opportunity to talk to him and understand where he is. Maybe that will happen at some point. Who knows?”

Brown’s conduct before and after the game — he also did not keep an appointment to have an MRI taken on his knee — has put him on the trading block. Rooney said the Steelers have not engaged in any preliminary trade discussions regarding Brown, and they haven’t set any parameters on what they expect to get in return.

No trades can be consummated until March 13 when the new NFL calendar season begins. With Brown due a $2.5 million roster bonus March 17, the Steelers are expected to trade their star receiver during that five-day window. They would save $15.125 in salary by trading Brown but would absorb a $21.12 million hit to their salary cap.

Rooney said he did not want to “disparage” Brown’s accomplishments with the Steelers, which include seven Pro Bowl selections and six consecutive seasons of at least 100 receptions and 1,200 yards.

“I think that you have to remember that he has been one of the most productive receivers in the league for a long time now,” he said. “He’s helped us win a lot of games over the last few years. Was it always done the way you’d like to see it done? No, but I don’t think he was a major distraction to the team up until the last weekend of the season.

“The proof is in the pudding for the most part.”

Although Brown might have violated terms of his contract by skipping meetings and his scheduled medical testing, Rooney said the wide receiver was paid his game check for Week 17. Rooney wouldn’t address whether the Steelers will pursue any financial remuneration for Brown violating terms of his contract for conduct detrimental to the team.

“He probably did what he needed to do to avoid having his last check be voided,” Rooney said. “I don’t want to get into too many details about that. He got his last check. That’s all I can say.”

While the Steelers have been met by silence from Brown, he has remained vocal on social media. In his latest postings, he exchanged barbs Wednesday on Twitter with former teammate Emmanuel Sanders and criticized Bruce Arians, his former offensive coordinator with the Steelers.

Rooney still is trying to get Brown’s version of events that transpired in the final week of the season when Brown reportedly became upset with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and stormed off the practice field.

“I don’t pretend to understand the situation,” Rooney said. “I have some thoughts about it. Wish I could say I talked to Antonio and understand what he’s thinking.”

The organization and Tomlin have been criticized for not being stricter with Brown, who left the team for various periods of time on three occasions this season dating to organized team activities in May.

“Were there maybe things that we would’ve liked to have done a little differently or would have liked him to have done a little differently? The answer is probably yes,” Rooney said. “But he’s one of the hardest-working players on the team, contributed to a lot of wins, and I think someday we’ll maybe understand better kind of what happened here the last week of the season, but we really don’t understand it right now.”

Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe at jrutter@tribweb.com or via Twitter @tribjoerutter.