Oakland Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown (84) during an an NFL preseason football game against ... [+]
[Update: ESPN is reporting that sources say Antonio Brown sought advice from professional social media consultants for “ideas on how to accelerate his release from the Oakland Raiders.” If true, it gives strength to the conspiracy theory but doesn’t answer whether he actually got the advice and how far back he planned to exit the Raiders. It also could make this a league issue. As they say, stay tuned. CW]
Did Antonio Brown just pull off one of the greatest employee communications strategies ever?
The volatile and mega-talented wide receiver signed with the New England Patriots on Saturday only hours after he was released by the Oakland Raiders. Brown never suited up for a regular-season game for the Raiders after being acquired in March, when they sent two draft picks to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Is this what Brown wanted all along? To be with the Patriots, Tom Brady and a team that, with his signing, is odds-on favorite to win the Super Bowl. Did he purposely anger the Raiders – and maybe the Steelers – just to manage where he plays?
Or, was what transpired just AB being AB?
Weigh the evidence.
Seven months ago, Brown was bound to the Steelers for three more seasons. When he signed a $72.7 million, five-year contract in 2017, “Mr. Big Chest” was the highest-paid wide receiver in the league. The deal was front loaded, with almost half of it paid in the first two years.
After signing the new contract, Brown’s relationship with the Steelers soured. As documented in a previous column, the Steelers decided by the end of last season enough was enough. They conducted what amounted to a fire sale for one of the league’s best players.
The Raiders gave Brown another new contract, one with about $30 million in new guaranteed money.
Then came the summer of discontent. Several tantrums on social media, barely practicing because of frost-bitten feet and a dispute over helmets, calling out the general manager. Enough drama for an entire season of “Real Housewives of Atlanta.” The Raiders, too, decided Brown’s behavior was just too bizarre.
The Raiders announced Brown’s release in a one-sentence statement minutes before 9 a.m. Pacific time.
Little more than four hours later, Drew Rosenhaus announced he had negotiated a new one-year deal with the Patriots for his client. It is worth up to $15 million with $10 million “guaranteed.” (The Raiders said Brown’s misbehavior means they don’t have to pay any of their “guaranteed” money.)
When Brown was released, speculation immediately turned to the Patriots.
Last March, Brown shared on his podcast a telephone conversation he had with Rosenhaus where they talked about how great it would be for Brown to play in New England. Rosenhaus indicated he connected Patriots and Steelers brass to talk about a trade. No such deal happened, of course, maybe because the two teams are serious rivals.
Until today, Brown didn’t have a choice where he played. Then he did. In four hours, his agent negotiated a deal with a team and a head coach known for rescuing “lost” players but also with little patience for misbehavior.
Did Brown act out in Pittsburgh to get out of the last years of a contract that no longer made him the highest-paid receiver? And, did he act out in Oakland so he would be released to sign with whomever he pleased?
The opinion here is no. This is AB being AB. What you see is what you get. The pattern is long and getting longer. There are other similar incidents that don’t relate to football or contracts or the color of Brown’s football jersey.
While this summer was stranger than fiction, arriving at Raiders training camp via hot air balloon is not unusual by Brown’s standards. You could almost predict this year’s stunt. Each year with the Steelers he tried to outdo every other player and himself when it came to arriving in style. Last year he landed by helicopter.
Go back further to his time in Pittsburgh. In January 2017, he violated team and league rules as well as his coaches’ and teammates’ trust by live-streaming a closed-door team meeting in advance of the AFC Championship Game with the Patriots. (The Steelers lost the game, BTW.) This is before his last contract with the Steelers.
In 2018, Brown was sued for trashing his Florida apartment and for throwing objects out of the window of his apartment, almost hitting a toddler. Last November, he was charged with – and later convicted of – driving 100 mph in a 45-mph zone in suburban Pittsburgh.
It’s hard to draw a line between those events and wanting to line up alongside Tom Brady.
Yes, Brown and Rosenhaus did talk last winter about the possibility of joining the Patriots. But they also talked about joining other teams as well.
And, in recent days and weeks more stories are surfacing about challenges Brown has presented over the years. Some say his behavior issues go back to his first contract extension in 2012.
Finally, this was a financial disaster for Brown. The Raiders contract gave him at least $30 million and maybe more than $54 million. Now he has a one-year deal for no more than $15 million and – at age 31 – is likely nearing the end of his football prime. He will have to produce on the football field and be on his absolute best behavior to expect another decent contract.
How Antonio Brown came to become a New England Patriot is likely to go down in some circles with other great conspiracy theories. Who really shot JFK? Did Coca Cola intentionally make New Coke bad to drive up sales of the original? Did the moon landing really happen?
In the case of AB, it is a reach too far. No conspiracy. What you see is what you get.
