While Antonio Brown is looking at an uphill battle if he wants to play football again in 2019, it does seem like he at least has a good chance to recoup some of the money he lost in his various releases.
The “consensus” of five different league sources is that the Patriots will eventually have to pay Brown the $9MM signing bonus they chose to withhold from him, according to Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports. It doesn’t sound like they’ll have to fork over the cash anytime soon though, as Robinson’s sources expect Patriots owner Robert Kraft will have to pay out “deep into the 2020 calendar, after an exhaustive arbitration grievance.”
One source took a particularly strong stance, saying “[New England] fighting to keep that signing bonus now is either a gross misunderstanding of [the CBA’s] rules on voiding signing bonuses or it’s just out of spite. I can’t believe they don’t understand the signing bonus voids in the CBA. There’s just no way. This is just spitefulness. They’re fighting [Brown] completely out of the anger and embarrassment in ownership.”
It seems like Brown is likely to get back $9MM from New England, and he isn’t going to stop there. We heard just yesterday that Brown was looking to pursue a grievance against the Raiders, although he might have a more difficult time getting money back from Oakland due to his repeated antics during his time as a Raider. The Patriots didn’t cut Brown after sexual assault allegations became public and allowed him to play in their Week 2 win over the Dolphins, which will make it hard for them to argue they released Brown because of information they weren’t aware of.
Although the star receiver has threatened retirement and has gone back and forth on Twitter about whether or not he wants to continue playing, his agent insists that he does and that teams are interested pending the league’s investigation into the assault allegations. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we hear any new developments on the grievance.
I still think there’s a small chance he could come back to NE it’s pretty well known in NE this wa a owners move not the star QB and HOF coach so if they fight to get him back they could win
you’re crazier than AB if you think there’s any chance he plays for New England again
Comment of the week
Beat me to it
What? As long as Kraft owns the team the chances of AB ever playing for them again is 0%. Kraft has final say, not BB or Brady. Kraft was the one who wanted him gone surely is the one behind them withholding AB’s bonus money from him. Don’t forget the tweet AB made about him. Doubt either one likes each other very much anymore.
Doubt BB and Brady would ‘fight’ to get him back. Prefer to still have him and disagree with the move maybe, but’s that’s it. They both know they can and will win without him. He was a luxury, very far from a necessity.
Pats have taken out the trash. don’t bring the trash back inside and set it on the dining room table.
Pay up, Patsies. It just means less trips to the massage parlor for Kraft.
No it doesn’t.
Happy endings for
everybody!!!!!
I love a happy ending
Why don’t you troll elsewhere. Your constant commentary on your dislike for the Patriots has become old, and boring.
I believe you are the only one that thinks your expressions are cute and witty.
Can’t blame the dude. It’s been some time since Tex saw a happy ending
And, in spite of your anti-NE comment, the Pats keep on winning.
I hope that game vs miami was worth 9 million plus a headache and legal battle for kraft
That’s not the type of release Kraft is used to paying for
LOL!!
That’s the comment of the week! Not even close. One of my favorites ever
to be fair, it was said they had no knowledge of these allegations before hand
He should get nothing since there wasn’t full disclosure of his crimes
Alleged crimes
Patriots didn’t release him when that came out
I’ll never understand the hate for the Patriots. Pure jealousy I suppose.
or people hate cheaters!
This cheating thing is so overblown. Nothing they have done has given them a definable advantage let alone a win. So they broke rules. And they overpaid on the penalties because the other owners want their chance to win and the Pats won’t give up the king of the hill. Every nfl team cheats. Hell even a holding call is cheating. Man, if ticky-tac cheating delivers the greatest QB in NFL history and 6 Super Bowls, believe me every team would do it. Your team would do it!The win because they are great. Sorry your teams are not.
Overblown they were camped outside of the Rams practice facility before that first super nowl recording everything. There tainted.
Equating a holding penalty to filming another team’s coaching signals and walk-through practices is a little like saying getting a speeding ticket is the same as stealing a car. One’s a momentary lapse in judgment, sometimes done without intent, that may or may not give you a quick leg up. The other is done decidedly to give yourself something you weren’t intended to have, and only possess through ill-gotten means.
How do you figure taping another team’s signals and practices, where you’re able to see what they’re doing, and know what’s coming beforehand, NOT a distinct advantage, by the way?
I won’t sit here and say the Patriots aren’t great, but they’re as dirty as the day is long. Greatest QB in NFL history though? Hahahahaha!!!
Let’s not pretend taping anything gives you an advantage. You do realize they study game films right?? Film is film, you know the other team and what they can do. And all I was saying is all teams cheat in one form or another. 6 super bowl championships and they aren’t done yet. And the fact you think it’s laughable that I consider Brady the best QB ever tells me all I need to know. I guess Bill Russell wasn’t that great a center because all he did was be a team leader and win championships. Yes I’d take Russell over Chamberlain
Taping something a team is doing immediately before they’re set to play you isn’t an advantage? For real!? What if they had ran a new play, or added a wrinkle to the offense they intended to use? That’s a lot different than studying game film, where you’re trying to learn what a team does based on what they’ve done in the past. You can’t justify cheating of that nature by comparing it to penalties on the field, no matter how hard you try.
Also I’d take Peyton Manning over Brady any day if I were a GM.
Yawn
They recorded Rams practices in disguise before the Super Bowl. The Rams had one of the most potent offenses in history. Brady is great no matter how much air is in the football I don’t argue that. But you have to ask yourself if none of it means anything why do it? Would they have won regardless? Nobody will ever know. It’s on the Patriots for bringing their legacy into question
When was the last time NY won anything ….?
That game was in Miami wasn’t it? Sounds like there’s only one place Kraft likes to get jerked around when he’s in town.
Signing bonus should be guaranteed. Period. New England could have offered no bonus, but they chose not to.
Kraft should put a hit out on him.
None of us, nor the 5 league people polled, know what wording was in the contracts. I’d be surprised if the Patriots didn’t have some type of clauses in there. I think this is a bit premature
Haha man that’s the place little Kraft got caught getting a “happy ending” down in Miami. And that’s where Brown played his one and only GAME!!! Kraft is a loser, then saying ooooh I didn’t do the thingy at the place . STFU crybaby cause you got caught.