Antonio Brown - Pro Football Rumors

Antonio Brown Files Grievances Against Raiders, Patriots

October 6th, 2019 at 11:03am CST by Rory Parks

It was an inevitably, but free agent wideout Antonio Brown has now filed his much-discussed grievances against the Raiders and Patriots, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports. We learned last week that Brown could be filing the following grievances:

• Fine appeals with the Raiders: $215K

• Salary guarantees with the Raiders : $29MM

• Signing bonus with the Raiders: $1MM

• Unpaid Week 1 salary from the Raiders: $860K

• Salary guarantees with the Patriots: $1MM

• Signing bonus with the Patriots: $9MM

• Unpaid Week 3 salary from the Patriots: $64K

• 2020 option year with the Patriots: $20MM

Rapoport confirms that all of the above grievances have been filed except the one concerning the 2020 option year with the Patriots, which felt like a major longshot anyway. In sum, Brown is seeking roughly $40MM in unpaid salary and bonuses.

However, Brown’s grievances are unlikely to be heard until the spring. Recent reports have suggested that AB stands a good chance of recouping the $9MM signing bonus from New England, but he could have a tough time recovering most of the other amounts.

We heard earlier this week that the NFL has yet to interview Brown concerning the sexual assault/rape allegations levied against him, and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk — while acknowledging that Brown does not merit any sympathy — says the NFL could be deliberately slow-playing the situation to keep Brown out of the league. After all, no team will sign Brown while the league continues to stay silent as to whether the embattled wideout is destined for the commissioner’s exempt list, and the league doesn’t really have to say anything until its investigation is concluded (the last step of which is the interview with Brown). That’s not a violation of the collusion provisions of the CBA, but it is a convenient loophole.

Extra Points: Mack, AB, Ramsey, Kessler

October 1st, 2019 at 9:34pm CST by Ben Levine

The Bears are set to face off against the Raiders in London this weekend, which means Khalil Mack will have his first chance to play against his former team. The linebacker told reporters today that he actually envisioned playing for the Raiders for his entire career.

“That’s the expectation when you get drafted to a team: You want to be there for the long haul and bring championships and all those good things,” Mack said (via ESPN.com’s Jeff Dickerson). “It’s the business side of it that doesn’t really let you do that.”

Mack spent the first four seasons of his career with Oakland, but the Raiders put him on the block when the two sides couldn’t agree to a long-term selection. The Bears swooped in and ended up signing four-time Pro Bowler to a deal that included $90MM in guaranteed money. Mack rewarded his new team by compiling 47 tackles and 12.5 sacks in 14 games.

Let’s check out some more notes from around the NFL…

As the NFL continues to investigate Antonio Brown for alleged sexual assault, the wide receiver still hasn’t met with the league, tweets ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler. Considering the Pro Bowl receiver is currently a free agent, Fowler notes that it’s “unclear how cooperative he plans or needs to be.” As Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com writes, it’s likely that no team would sign Brown until the NFL’s investigation is complete, meaning the wideout could be forced to cooperate if he wants to play again.
Peter King of Football Morning in America writes that the Chargers might get into the Jalen Ramsey sweepstakes. The writer believes adding a top defensive player would be a savvy move as the organization prepares for a new stadium in 2020. King adds that he “still think[s]” that the Chiefs and Ravens are also involved in talks with the Jaguars. We heard earlier this week that the Jaguars rejected a trade that would have netted them a pair of late first-rounders.
Yesterday, the Eagles acquired linebacker Duke Riley and a sixth-round choice from the Falcons in exchange for safety Johnathan Cyprien and a seventh-round pick. SiriusXM’s Adam Caplan tweets that the seventh rounder is actually the Buccaneers’ selection. The Eagles originally acquired the pick in the offseason trade that brought DeSean Jackson back to Philly.
Quarterback Cody Kessler signed a minimum contract with the Patriots, tweets Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. This means he’ll earn a prorated $720K salary (a bit less than $593K for the rest of the season) with no guaranteed money and a $448K “injury split.” This essentially means the Patriots can evaluate Kessler’s spot on the roster on a week-by-week basis.

Antonio Brown To File Up To Nine Grievances/Appeals

September 29th, 2019 at 10:01am CST by Rory Parks

The Antonio Brown news machine keeps chugging along. Per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, Brown is poised to file up to nine grievances/appeals, which would be a league-record number of filings generated from one season for one player (though as Mark Maske of the Washington Post tweets, no grievance has been filed yet).

Schefter helpfully summarizes the potential filings as follows:

• Fine appeals with the Raiders: $215K

• Salary guarantees with the Raiders : $29MM

• Signing bonus with the Raiders: $1MM

• Unpaid Week 1 salary from the Raiders: $860K

• Salary guarantees with the Patriots: $1MM

• Signing bonus with the Patriots: $9MM

• Unpaid Week 3 salary from the Patriots: $64K

• 2020 option year with the Patriots: $20MM

• Potential appeal of NFL suspension

The consensus seems to be that Brown is likely to win his grievance against the Patriots for the $9MM signing bonus. However, as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports confirms, that matter will probably not be resolved until 2020.

The NFL’s investigation into accusations of sexual assault/misconduct levied against Brown by two different women is ongoing. Despite reports that teams remain interested in Brown — reports championed by Brown’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus — Brown himself has indicated that he is done with the NFL, and he recently enrolled in online classes at Central Michigan University.

Antonio Brown Likely To Win Grievance Against Patriots?

September 28th, 2019 at 9:56pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

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.

Antonio Brown Moving Toward Grievance Against Raiders?

September 27th, 2019 at 4:54pm CST by Sam Robinson

Antonio Brown looks likely to be in for two grievance battles. The now-twice-released wide receiver unloaded on Patriots owner Robert Kraft last week, and a grievance is expected against that organization. However, the NFLPA is going through scenarios regarding a grievance against the Raiders, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).

The Raiders were the first team to void Brown guarantees, doing so hours before releasing the mercurial superstar. Among the items being considered for a grievance against the Raiders on Brown’s behalf: his 2019 and ’20 base salaries ($14.625MM and $14.5MM, respectively), an unpaid Week 1 salary, three fines levied against him and a $1MM signing bonus, per Fowler.

The NFLPA has yet to file this grievance, and as will be the case in a battle against the Patriots, Brown’s actions while in Oakland — highlighted by missed practices over multiple issues and a confrontation with GM Mike Mayock — will make it a more challenging effort to recoup a significant amount of cash. The $1MM signing bonus may be Brown’s best chance at seeing a seven-figure payment from the Raiders. Brown racked up $215K in fines while with the Silver and Black.

There was offset language in Brown’s Raiders contract, meaning his $10MM Patriots deal would have stood to minimize the Raiders’ commitment. However, with the Pats also voiding Brown’s money, this has become quite the murky situation. The All-Pro talent received nearly $40MM in guarantees from two franchises this year; he has a chance to walk away with very little of that money.

Currently a free agent, Brown has ranged from quitting the NFL altogether to re-enrolling at Central Michigan to suddenly wanting back in the league. Drew Rosenhaus indicated teams are “very interested” in signing Brown, despite an unbelievable run of drama this year, but considering Brown faces multiple accusations of sexual misconduct, it does not appear likely he will play again anytime soon.

Latest On Antonio Brown, Patriots

September 26th, 2019 at 3:21pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Patriots’ decision to end Antonio Brown‘s stay after 11 days may not have been as unanimous as originally reported. Robert Kraft led the charge for the Patriots to jettison the embattled wide receiver, and while Bill Belichick went along with it, Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston notes the 20th-year Pats HC probably would have retained Brown had Kraft not insisted he be released.

Kraft has not been known to intervene in personnel matters, with Curran adding this is believed to be the first time (though, Kraft was reported to have played a role in the Jimmy Garoppolo trade process — something the owner denied). Tom Brady was not on board with Kraft’s decision to cut Brown, Curran adds, noting the future Hall of Fame quarterback’s practice work with the four-time All-Pro was nearly flawless and that Brown’s talent was “beyond anything Brady ever worked with.”

Kraft was reportedly “enraged” upon learning of Brown’s text messages to his second accuser, and it led to the team cutting ties with the perennial Pro Bowler. This led to a mostly deleted Brown Sunday-morning tweetstorm, with the disgruntled receiver referencing Kraft’s involvement in the reported prostitution sting. The Brown saga will still include the Patriots going forward, considering an NFLPA-backed grievance centered around his $9MM signing bonus is likely forthcoming.

While the Patriots will face an obstacle in keeping that $9MM off their books because they deployed Brown in Week 2 after learning of the civil suit filed against him (per Albert Breer of SI.com, on Twitter), the organization will be in line to lean on the contract’s morals clause as well as language indicating Brown’s failure to disclose “any situations that may prevent continued availability” in this upcoming battle. The NFLPA will likely argue that CBA language requires a higher standard to void signing bonus money and would supersede these team-implemented clauses, CBS Sports’ Joel Corry writes.

The Pats are set to carry $5.75MM on their 2019 cap because of this process, with Corry adding a grievance likely will not be settled until 2020. A $4.5MM cap credit would come the Pats’ way, in addition to Brown’s $4.75MM 2020 charge being removed from New England’s books, should the team prevail in the grievance.

Agent: Teams “Very Interested” In Antonio Brown

September 26th, 2019 at 8:18am CST by Zachary Links

Antonio Brown says he’s done with the NFL. However, the NFL isn’t necessarily done with him. At least, that’s what agent Drew Rosenhaus told Warren Sapp on his “99 Problems” podcast.

“Because of the pending investigation by the NFL, I can’t say much more than what I have. It’s of course unfortunate that Antonio was released by the Patriots. We wanted very much to make that work, but we’re moving on,” Rosenhaus said. “I believe that Antonio wants to continue his career in the NFL and I’ve mentioned that. I have had discussions with a few teams that are very interested in him and want to know about his future and what’s going on with the NFL. Hopefully, when that is all resolved, Antonio will be able to continue his Hall of Fame career. That’s really where our focus is.”

Accusations of sexual assault – plus recent communications with one of his accusers – have Brown’s future in jeopardy. He’s currently facing civil lawsuits from two different women and the Patriots are attempting to withhold a $5MM portion of Brown’s guaranteed signing bonus.

Meanwhile, Brown is headed back to school – sort of. The wide receiver has enrolled for online classes at Central Michigan University, though Rosenhaus stresses that fans and teams should not “read too much into that.”

“Taking online college courses to get your degree or your post-graduate degree is something that I would recommend to every client,” the agent said.

Three teams reportedly expressed interest in Brown following his release from the Patriots.

Patriots Withhold Antonio Brown’s Money

September 24th, 2019 at 12:37pm CST by Zachary Links

A $5MM installment on Antonio Brown‘s $9MM signing bonus was due on Monday. The Patriots, as many anticipated, declined to pay that $5MM, Mike Florio of PFT hears.

It’s likely that a nasty showdown involving Brown, agent Drew Rosenhaus, and the NFLPA will ensue. Per the terms of the league’s collective bargaining agreement, Brown did not commit a “forfeitable breach” – though Florio ponders that the Patriots could argue that Brown was not forthright about the sexual assault allegations levied against him. In this scenario, the Patriots would assert that they would not have signed Brown in the first place, had they known about the claims.

On an interesting note – Florio writes that there is no downside for the Patriots in refusing to pay the embattled wide receiver. The worst case scenario, as he understands it, would be that the Patriots are forced to pay out the signing bonus at the behest of an arbitrator.

Antonio Brown Heads Back To School

September 23rd, 2019 at 1:35pm CST by Zachary Links

Antonio Brown has enrolled in online classes with the hopes of earning his degree at Central Michigan University, per an announcement from the wide receiver. Brown previously spent three years at Central Michigan, but left before earning his degree.

After Brown was alleged to have contacted his second accuser, the Patriots decided they were done with him. After that, Brown said he was done with the NFL. Effectively, this could be a spin on the old, “You can’t fire me, because I quit!” – it seems unlikely that Brown was going to find employment again in the NFL, at least in 2019.

Of course, things could always change if Brown has a change of heart and the ugly accusations against him are shown to have a lack of merit. For now, Brown intends to take four online courses: Introduction to Management, Technical Writing, Death and Dying (a religion course), and Racism and Equality (sociology).

Three Teams Were Interested In Antonio Brown

September 22nd, 2019 at 8:11pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

In Antonio Brown‘s latest outburst earlier this morning, he declared that he was done playing in the NFL. He also fired off several other bizarre tweets, lashing out at Robert Kraft and Ben Roethlisberger.

Brown’s agent Drew Rosenhaus had said just yesterday that a few teams were interested in his client, and now we have a little more clarity on that. Three teams were probing around the controversial receiver, a source told Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. Obviously, Brown’s Twitter tirade complicates things, and it’s probably unlikely that all three of those teams are still interested. Notably, Brown has deleted most of his tweets from earlier this morning, although you can still read them at our original post here.

Despite his public proclamations, Florio writes that “it’s believed that Brown eventually will want to return to the NFL,” which is hardly surprising. Brown’s latest antics surely aren’t going to help him find a job, and it’s looking more and more likely that we won’t see Brown on the field again in 2019. If any team does eventually decide to sign him, it’ll certainly be a low-risk prove-it deal that doesn’t guarantee Brown much, if anything at all.