Antonio Brown's recklessness forced Buccaneers to release WR, claims NFL insider
The Antonio Brown drama may only be getting started. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers officially released the receiver Thursday following him storming off the field last Sunday and effectively quitting.
Brown's case all along was that he had an ankle injury and could not play through the pain on Sunday. So, according to Brown, head coach Bruce Arians told him to get out.
New information came out Thursday, courtesy of ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter. He sent out several tweets explaining a new angle on the situation that could explain why Brown was so upset.
Last week, Antonio Brown and his agent requested that the remaining $2 million in incentives in his contract for this season be guaranteed, per Bucs’ GM Jason Licht. The team declined to guarantee those incentives.
Schefter explains how Brown requested that his remaining incentives, worth $2 million, be guaranteed. Could that explain why he was upset after limited targets on Sunday? That is possible, but it should also be noted that Schefter's information is coming from Buccaneers GM Jason Licht. So this is officially Tampa Bay's side of the story.
Further information on why Antonio Brown stormed off on the Buccaneers
Per Licht, Brown did not in fact tell anyone about his nagging injury. That directly contradicts Brown's sharing of text messages that claim Arians knew about the issue all along.
Antonio Brown did not tell anyone on the Bucs’ medical staff about his ankle bothering him on gameday before the game against the Jets or during it, per Bucs’ GM Jason Licht.
The Buccaneers have now claimed they had no knowledge of Brown's ankle injury. They then reportedly tried to get their own evaluation in, to no avail.
Buccaneers made what they call “reasonable accommodations” to bring this matter to a close early this week if in fact Antonio Brown had an injury from the game and the wide receiver declined to cooperate, per Jason Licht.
Schefter continues to note that all of this information is coming from Licht. While some fans may still only believe Brown's side of the story, it is important to hear how the Buccaneers view the situation. The team is even claiming that Brown is refusing to undergo tests to see just how bad his ankle is at the moment.
Bucs could have set up those appointments in Tampa, but they knew Brown was in NY and they believed they were trying to oblige him. Brown and his agent declined to send the Bucs his medical information from their doctor visit this week, and still have not returned their calls.
Brown is sticking by his claim that the team knew he was injured and he was too hurt to continue playing Sunday. The Buccaneers say Brown never revealed this information. They also state that his contract incentives played into why he stormed off the field.
One other note to this saga, per Bucs’ sources: At halftime of Sunday’s game against the Jets, Antonio Brown was agitated about not getting the targets he was expecting during the game and had to be calmed down.
That has both sides on opposite ends of the discussion and it is hard to think about any resolution taking place here. Cutting Brown means he can play elsewhere if a team takes him, and the Buccaneers can just move on.
Tampa Bay needed to share their side because with what Brown said, the NFL may need to launch an investigation. This may still take place as this situation only gets messier with each passing hour.
NFL fans are now waiting for Brown to respond to all of this messaging from his former team.
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