Antonio Brown wants to retire with Steelers, but will they let him?

Antonio Brown apparently wants to retire as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

On Monday afternoon over Twitter, Antonio Brown made it abundantly clear that he wants to retire with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

On paper, he should be a no-doubt Pro Football Hall of Famer. However, off-the-field issues and a tumultuous final few seasons in the league since leaving Pittsburgh somehow leave that up to chance. After taking his shirt off and exiting stage left at MetLife when he was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, no NFL team in their right mind will let Brown play another snap in the league.

Here is Brown’s initial tweet about wanting to retire with the Steelers on Monday afternoon.

He quickly followed that initial tweet up with this very important clarification on the issue.

Brown may want to retire with the Steelers, but will the proud football organization even let him?

Antonio Brown wants to retire with Pittsburgh Steelers, but will they let him?

It may be a simple gesture of gratitude by the Steelers organization to let Brown back in the building to sign a one-day contract to retire with Pittsburgh. Frankly, it should not be this divisive of an issue, but he burnt so many bridges along the way during his NFL career. If he ever does get inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he would need a team like the Steelers to back him up.

No, he has not earned the right to ask for this, but it may mean the world to him if the Steelers organization complies. Regardless of what the team decides to do, they must move on from the previous era of Pittsburgh football if they want to give Kenny Pickett his best chance at success. By allowing Brown to retire a Steeler, it may afford Big Ben opportunities to complicate matters.

If the Steelers let Brown retire with them, they are taking ownership of all the good, bad and ugly that stemmed from his controversial playing career. As far as Ben Roethlisberger fallout, the Steelers allowing Brown to retire as a member of their organization may somehow convince Big Ben in his mind this is still his franchise and he can do whatever he wants. It is Pickett’s team now.

By letting Brown retire with the team, it says a lot about the Steelers organization, good and bad.