Antonio Brown offering to play for Steelers ‘for free’ to finish 2024 season

Former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown enjoyed his golden years in the league while playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He spent the first nine seasons of his career in Pittsburgh and earned seven Pro Bowl selections.

To boot, Brown had seasons with Pittsburgh where he the NFL in receptions (twice), receiving yards (twice), receiving touchdowns (once) and receiving yards per game (once).

On Thursday, Brown took to X and claimed that he would be willing to suit up for his former team for free to cap off the 2024 campaign.

While Brown was an elite receiver with the Steelers, those days are seemingly far behind him. He last played for the Steelers in the 2018 season, and it’s also been quite some time since he’s last played in the NFL at all.

Brown most recently logged seven appearances and three starts for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were led by none other than quarterback Tom Brady, in the 2021 season.

How the Steelers have performed thus far this season also suggests that Pittsburgh may not be in need of changes right now. The team owns the AFC North’s top record at 8-2, and its offense has looked very solid of late.

With a little help from its special teams, Pittsburgh has scored at least 26 points in four of its last five contests. The Steelers exploded for 37 points against the New York Jets on Oct. 20.

But the idea of some additional help at wide receiver behind third-year pro George Pickens likely has some appeal. Pickens has been Pittsburgh’s top target this season. He is averaging 72.8 receiving yards per game to this point and is on track to finish the season with over 1,000 receiving yards.

It remains to be seen whether or not the Steelers will take Brown’s offer seriously and consider signing him in the near future. For what it’s worth, NFL rules would almost certainly prevent him from playing for free. But it would certainly be poetic if Brown were to return to the Steelers after all these years and have a legitimate shot at winning another Super Bowl.

Unfortunately, Brown’s off-the-field track record likely won’t do him any favors if he really does want a team like Pittsburgh to take a chance on him.