Ok. WOW. In an extremely surprising series of events that nobody could have expected, Antonio Brown has been cut by the Oakland Raiders. That's right, the player who leads the league in every major receiving category over the last five years is now on the open market as a free agent.
This release was the culmination of a lot of things that went wrong for AB. The last time we checked on Brown, he was contemplating retirement because he couldn't wear his helmet, and got frostbitten feet due to wearing improper footwear during cryotherapy. After these issues were seemingly resolved, it looked like Brown would suit up for the Raiders. Instead, Brown got very mad at Raiders GM Mike Mayock after he revealed that he was fined about 53,000 dollars for not reporting to training camp or practices. After this, Brown had a very heated altercation with Mayock. He reportedly threatened to throw a football at his face, and then punted a football across the field, and said "fine me for that".
The Raiders first contemplated suspended Brown for a game or two, but then Brown issued a "very sincere apology" to the Raiders, and it looked like he was going to play. However, Brown increased the drama even more this morning, as he posted a recording of his conversation to Mayock to his YouTube channel. This seemingly is what made the Raiders put a foot down, and they fined Brown $215,000 for conduct detrimental to the team, which also voided his $30 million in guaranteed money.
Once this occurred, Brown requested a release from the Raiders and got it. He is now available for any team to pick up. He likely will command a lot of money, but it does not make sense for any team to offer that money to him. A small, non-guaranteed "prove it" deal is probably the best he will get. Perhaps someone like the Ravens, 49ers, or Redskins could take a flyer on him. Whatever happens, it looks like the Raiders messed up by trading for AB.
UPDATE: Brown has agreed to a one year, 15 million dollar contract with the Patriots.
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