Brown Fallout: Patriots, Contract, Seahawks

The Patriots have released Antonio Brown, making them the third team to move on from the all-time receiver great in the past seven months. Here is the latest Brown fallout:

  • Brown practiced with the Patriots earlier Friday, but some in the organization viewed the text messages Brown is believed to have sent to the artist who accused him of sexual misconduct to have crossed a line, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com reports (video link). Bill Belichick said earlier today the team was “looking into” some Brown-related matters. Brown having sent those messages after becoming a member of the Patriots changed the scope of this situation for the franchise, per Reiss.
  • The Patriots are unlikely to have to pay Brown much money, per ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler. A representation warranty clause in Brown’s contract, which Fowler notes puts the short-term Patriot at risk of losing more guaranteed money because of not disclosing “any situations that may prevent continued availability” prior to signing with New England, stands to give the franchise cover here. Brown’s Patriots guarantees were believed to be in jeopardy after the first allegation surfaced. Instead of paying millions in guarantees, Fowler writes the Patriots are likely only to have to pay Brown his base salaries for Weeks 2 and Week 3. An NFLPA grievance could still emerge, however. Brown’s bonus payments were due in two parts — $5MM Monday and the other $4MM on Jan. 15.
  • After the text messages became public, the NFL ordered Brown not to have any further interactions with the unidentified artist, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports. “The NFL has assured us that regardless of Antonio Brown’s roster status, it will continue to investigate all claims regarding his behavior,” the artist’s attorney, Kendra Barkoff said in a statement. The investigation into Britney Taylor’s allegations of multiple Brown sexual assaults is ongoing, with the NFL set to conduct more interviews. Taylor met with the league for 10 hours on Tuesday.
  • One of the teams connected to Brown after the Raiders released him will not look into signing him now. The Seahawks are content with their wide receiver situation, Pete Carroll said (via ESPN.com’s Brady Henderson, on Twitter).
View Comments (21)