Usually when there’s Antonio Brown legal news it’s bad news, but not today. The frequently embattled Buccaneers receiver got a positive update Tuesday, as Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets that his probation has been terminated a year early.

This all stems from when Brown pled no contest to criminal assault charges from an incident with a delivery driver. The plea allowed Brown to avoid jail time after he was initially facing more serious charges. Instead he was hit with two years of probation, 100 hours of community service, and a mandatory psychiatric evaluation.

Brown’s attorney Sean Burstyn released a statement, which you can read in Rapoport’s tweet, saying the battery case has been finalized, and that the early termination is “further demonstration of Antonio Brown’s hard work and great progress since his NFL suspension.”

“We see nothing but blue sky for AB.” Despite all the optimism, Brown’s legal headaches from the incident aren’t quite over yet. Just last month, the driver hit him with a lawsuit alleging Brown broke the driver’s car key and “proceeded to verbally and physically attack (Tumanov), causing severe personal injuries.”

As for his actual football career, Brown re-signed with the defending champion Bucs on a one-year deal worth up to $6.25MM with $3.1MM guaranteed. He had 45 catches for 483 yards and four touchdowns in his first half-season in Tampa after serving his eight-game suspension to start the year.

It took a little longer than expected, but Antonio Brown has finally re-signed with the Buccaneers. Now, courtesy of ESPN.com’s Field Yates (Twitter link) we have the details on the deal.

As previously reported, Brown can make up to $6.25MM in 2021. He received a $2MM signing bonus plus $1.1MM in base salary, which effectively guarantees $3.1MM. Beyond that, he can make a total of $900K in per-game bonuses, plus incentives.

Brown can collect an additional $334K for each of the following plateaus: 50 catches, 70 catches, 600 receiving yards, 800 receiving yards, five touchdowns, and seven touchdowns. Plus, if he reaches 45% playing time and is active for a (second) Super Bowl victory, he’ll see another $250K.

Often times, NFL incentives are hard to reach. Sometimes, they’re formally designated as such (NLTBE — Not Likely To Be Earned). In this case, it’s not hard to imagine AB maxing out his contract. In eight regular season games last year, Brown notched 45 catches for 483 yards and four touchdowns. Extrapolated for a full 16-game slate, that’s 90 catches, 966 yards, and eight touchdowns. If Brown can do that in 2021, he’ll hit every milestone and then some.

It’s officially official. On Tuesday, Antonio Brown formally signed his brand new contract with the Buccaneers, per a club announcement. 

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In late April, Brown agreed to a new one-year deal with the defending champs. However, the deal was still pending a physical following a recent knee procedure. Head coach Bruce Arians termed the operation as “getting his knee cleaned out” — in other words, a minor surgery. Still, it’s not clear why Brown waited until the spring to get it done.

“We wanted AB back,” Arians said. “He was a model citizen the whole time he’s been here. We wanted him back and he’s never had surgery in his life. It’s just a matter of physical done. I wanted him back the whole time.”

Assuming the terms have not changed, Brown will have the chance to earn up to $6.25MM with $3.1MM fully guaranteed and a $2MM signing bonus. The remaining half could be achieved via incentives.

In eight regular season games last year, Brown notched 45 catches for 483 yards and four touchdowns. In theory, that’s 90 catches, 966 yards, and eight touchdowns when extrapolated for a full season. If Brown can do that in 2021, the Bucs will be over the moon.

There was some brief concern earlier this morning when it was reported that Buccaneers receiver Antonio Brown hadn’t actually signed his contract yet. Head coach Bruce Arians said Brown still needed to pass his physical, and it appeared for a second his return to Tampa could be in some doubt.

That doesn’t appear to be the case. The oft-embattled wideout did in fact have knee surgery on Tuesday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. Rapsheet says the procedure was a success, and that it was just “a clean-out after some issues last season.” Fortunately for the friend of Tom Brady, it’ll apparently only be “a few weeks of recovery, then he’ll be ready to go.”

Bucs GM Jason Licht also confirmed that it’s no big deal. “No, not concerned. The plan all along is to have him come in — I think he is coming in Monday to sign,” Licht told Ira Kaufman of JoeBucsFan.com.

Brown attracts drama like a magnet, but it doesn’t seem like this is going to be a lingering issue. He might be more concerned about the new lawsuit he just got hit with a few days ago.

The Buccaneers may have agreed to terms with Antonio Brown, but it’s not a done deal just yet. Brown’s contract is still pending a physical following a recent knee procedure, head coach Bruce Arians says. 

“He has to pass the physical,” Arians said (via Pewter Report). “Hopefully we’ll have a scope on Tuesday, he’s getting his knee cleaned out, and everything will work out fine. It’s just a matter of a physical.”

In late April, Brown reportedly agreed to a new one-year deal with the defending champs. Assuming the deal holds up, Brown can earn up to $6.25MM with $3.1MM fully guaranteed and a $2MM signing bonus. The remaining half of the $6.25MM could be achieved via incentives.

Brown was dealing with knee issues throughout the playoffs but, for one reason or another, he held off on the surgery. The Bucs may be scratching their heads about Brown’s chosen timetable, but Arians still seems enthusiastic about another go ’round with Brown.

“We wanted AB back,” Arians said. “He was a model citizen the whole time he’s been here. We wanted him back and he’s never had surgery in his life. It’s just a matter of physical done. I wanted him back the whole time.”

In eight regular season games last year, Brown notched 45 catches for 483 yards and four touchdowns. Meanwhile, 20 of those 45 grabs came in the final three weeks of the regular season, a sign that AB could have some monster games in store this year.

Apr. 22: Brown is not out of the woods quite yet with respect to potential NFL discipline. As Stroud tweets, the league is still reviewing the matter for a potential violation of the personal conduct policy. Speculatively, that could mean that Brown will have to wait a little longer to re-sign with the Bucs or agree to terms with any other club.

As Greg Auman of The Athletic observes, GM Jason Licht was fairly non-committal after the news of the settlement. “We’ve had discussions throughout the offseason … we’ve put an emphasis on bringing back players from last year … [Brown] would be no different,” Licht said. “[The settlement is] not necessarily the deciding factor on whether we’re going to continue to talk” (Twitter links).

Apr. 21: The civil suit that Britney Taylor filed against Antonio Brown over a year ago has been settled, according to one of Brown’s representatives (via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, on Twitter).

A former Brown trainer, Taylor accused him of multiple instances of sexual assault. This matter was folded into the NFL’s investigation of the veteran wide receiver. Brown’s 2020 suspension did not cover Taylor’s accusation, and the threat of an additional ban loomed because of it.

This suit, which the COVID-19 pandemic delayed, was supposed to go to trial in December 2021. However, the 32-year-old receiver appears in the clear on this front now.

This matter surfaced after Brown signed with the Patriots in 2019. Brown denied the allegations, but both he and Taylor separately met with the NFL in September 2019. After another sexual misconduct allegation emerged, Brown’s sending of threatening text messages to that accuser ended up leading him out of New England.

However, the Buccaneers signed him midway through the 2020 season. He ended up making key contributions to the team’s second Super Bowl championship. The Bucs have made a host of re-signings this offseason, doing plenty to keep their championship core together. Brown remains on the team’s radar, and the Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud expects Wednesday’s resolution to pave the way for another Brown deal with the Bucs in the near future (Twitter link).

Antonio Brown wants to return to the Buccaneers. The Buccaneers would love to have him back. Unfortunately, the two sides remain at a standstill, according to Joey Knight of the Tampa Bay Times.

Even after re-signing the majority of their stars, the Buccaneers have a shade over $5MM in cap room. Half of that space will go towards signing the incoming draft class, which probably means that the Bucs are offering Brown a one-year, ~$2MM deal.

“We’re just gonna take our time,” head coach Bruce Arians said recently. “There’s offers out there. We’ll see how it goes.”

After his suspension, Brown recorded 45 catches for 483 yards and four touchdowns across eight games. Extrapolated for a full 16-game season, he would have been on pace for 90 catches, 966 yards, and eight touchdowns. At least, that’s the type of math that Brown’s camp is likely presenting. The Bucs’ negotiators would probably note that all of Brown’s TDs and 20 of his 45 catches came in the final three weeks of the regular season.

With Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Rob Gronkowski ready to go, the Bucs could comfortably move ahead without Brown. Meanwhile, it’s not clear if there are any other suitors for AB, so there’s no real sense of urgency in Tampa.

Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians recently said that the team is waiting to hear back on its latest offer to Antonio Brown. However, the two sides aren’t close to an agreement, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com. 

There’s still mutual interest, but the Bucs aren’t on board with Brown’s asking price. It’s not clear what Brown is seeking; nor is it clear whether Brown has offers from anyone but the Bucs. Between Brown’s lingering legal issues and his overall baggage, it’s hard to imagine him having a strong market in free agency. Jason Licht & Co. have offered the wide receiver something in the range of last year’s deal, which paid him $2MM for a half-season.

Earlier this offseason, we saw DeSean Jackson score a one-year, $4.5MM deal with the Rams. One could argue that Brown offers more upside than DJax, but every player’s market is dictated by demand. Right now, it doesn’t seem like there is a ton of demand for Brown outside of Tampa.

Brown, 33 this summer had 45 catches for 483 yards and four touchdowns in eight games. Extrapolated for a full 16-game slate, that would have given him a 90/966/8 line.