Antonio Brown has officially found a new home with the reigning Super Bowl champions. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Brown and New England agreed to a deal just before 5:00 on Saturday. The deal carries $9 million in guarantees and maxes out at $15 million in potential value. He is ineligible to play in Week One’s matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers but can return to the field in Week Two.
Antonio Brown, New England Patriots, Agree to Contract
Antonio Brown has been all over the news this offseason. After missing Pittsburgh’s final game in 2018, the Steelers traded the four-time All-Pro to the Oakland Raiders in exchange for a third- and fifth-round pick.
Brown started off on the wrong foot (pun intended) when he suffered frostbite from a cyrotherapy incident gone wrong. He compounded the issue by missing the grand majority of offseason workouts over his preferred helmet. Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock appeared to support Brown early on in this process, but their patience clearly wore this. Mayock famously said that Brown needs to decide “if he’s all-in or all-out” and issues a fine for missing practices.
This clearly didn’t sit well with Brown, as he posted the letter to Instagram while complaining about “haters” in the front office. Brown later confronted Mayock, with some reports claiming he called the general manager a “cracker” and that Vontez Burfict needed to break up a potential physical altercation.
Antonio Brown reportedly apologized to his teammates for his outbursts and appeared to be back on the right track. However, the former sixth-round pick posted a hype video in which he recorded a phone conversation with Gruden, seemingly without Gruden’s consent. While Gruden shrugged it off, the Raiders issued another fine and took away Brown’s guarantees. ESPN’s Jeff Darlington reported that Brown told him via email there is “no way [he] plays after they took that [guaranteed money].”
