With the dust still settling on the whirlwind of events that saw the Raiders releasing wide receiver Antonio Brown on Saturday morning and him signing with the Patriots just a few hours later, it’s starting to sound more and more like New England was where the wide receiver wanted to be all along.
Even though Brown lost millions of dollars in the transaction, it suddenly sounds there might have been (at least some sort of logic) behind his bizarre actions in Oakland. Multiple reports are making it sound like Brown’s seemingly crazy actions were all part of a master plan to get out of Oakland and to New England.
Really, all you have to do is look at Brown’s actions and you can at least connect the dots on what seemed like an irrational series of behavior and see that it might have been a scheme that worked to perfection – at least for Brown and the Patriots.
Here are seven things to consider about how Brown wiggled his way to New England.
7. Maybe New England is where Antonio Brown wanted to be from the start
Before you consider Brown’s recent actions, you have to understand the background on how this whole thing started. It was obvious the Pittsburgh Steelers were shopping Brown for a trade early in the offseason. Reports now have surfaced that the Patriots really wanted Brown and offered a first-round draft pick as compensation. The Steelers shot down that offer, reportedly because they view themselves as Super Bowl contenders and didn’t want to do anything to strengthen the strongest team in the AFC. Instead the Steelers accepted third- and fifth-round draft picks from Oakland, which is not viewed as a Super Bowl contender. The Raiders then signed Brown to a three-year contract that supposedly contained $30 million in guaranteed money. At the time, Brown seemed happy and it appeared as if he had forgotten about New England. But maybe he really did.
6. Frostbite was just the tip of the iceberg
The first sign of trouble came when Antonio Brown had cryotherapy on his feet in the offseason. Something went wrong and Brown ended up with severe frostbite on both feet. It’s hard to imagine that even Brown planned something like this. It almost certainly was an accident. But it didn’t get him off to a good start with the Raiders. He missed part of training camp and, then, things truly started to get weird.
5. The Mike Mayock letter and argument
In the middle of last week, Antonio Brown posted on social media a letter from the Oakland general manager that stated the wide receiver was being fined for missing practices and a walkthrough. Later that day, Brown and Mayock had a heated verbal altercation. Reports quickly followed that the Raiders would suspend Brown. There was also speculation that the suspension could void the guarantees in Brown’s contract and the Raiders could simply release him with only a minimal financial hit.
4. Then, everything changed – if only for a minute
Coach Jon Gruden came out and declared there would be no suspension or release. He said Antonio Brown would be in the lineup for the season opener Monday night. It seemed, for a moment at least, that a crisis had been avoided. But then Brown got back on social media and posted a taped phone call between himself and Gruden. The video that ran with the audio was obviously professional produced. It’s also worth noting it’s illegal in California to tape another person without their consent. And, nowhere in the audio that ran, was any indication Gruden had consented.
3. The social media blitz continued
What appeared to be the final straw came early Saturday morning when Antonio Brown again took to social media. This time he demanded the Raiders release him because they had told him his contract was guaranteed. Within a couple of hours, the Raiders went ahead and officially released him. This part wasn’t necessary, but Brown went back on social media and posted a video of himself running around and declaring, “I’m free’’. Within a few hours, Brown signed with the Patriots.
2. Did Antonio Brown plan all this himself?
It got even more interesting Sunday morning when ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported that Antonio Brown sought advice from social media consultants to help orchestrate his way out of Oakland. That could make a lot more sense than what originally looked like the solo ramblings of a madman. If the consultants really were behind this, they did their job to perfection.
1. Did the Patriots tamper with Antonio Brown?
Without any evidence that the Patriots had contact with Brown or agent Drew Rosenhaus, it’s impossible to even come close to definitively stating that there was tampering (pursuing a player under contract with another team). But there are enough red flags to at least leave the door open for speculation. The league takes tampering very seriously. Given how this whole situation played out, don’t be surprised if the league at least decides to investigate.
Pat Yasinskas has covered the NFL since 1993. He has worked for The Tampa Tribune, The Charlotte Observer and ESPN.com and writes for numerous national magazines and websites. He also has served as a voter for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
