GLENDALE, AZ – AUGUST 15: Oakland Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown (84) smiles before the NFL preseason football game between the Oakland Raiders and the Arizona Cardinals on August 15, 2019 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Antonio Brown soap opera with the Oakland Raiders has taken another dramatic turn, with. the star wide out asking the team to cut him on Instagram.
Who knew that Antonio Brown would turn out to be the most dramatic player in the history of the NFL? Between forcing his way out of Pittsburgh, getting frostbite on his feet, fighting the league over a helmet, confronting GM Mike Mayock, nearly getting suspended for it, and leaking a private phone call with Jon Gruden on YouTube the NFL has become Brown’s world.
The AB saga took another strange turn this morning, with Brown requesting his release from the Raiders in a post to his Instagram account.
The post is simply a caption stating that “you are gonna piss a lot of people off when you start doing what’s best for you”, with Brown commenting that the “system” is blind to his talent and wants to have the freedom to explore it elsewhere.
The bizarre message ends with Brown tagging the Raiders and asking them to release him, with Brown concluding the post with #NoMoreFake. The Raiders have yet to respond to the message, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter has a theory why Brown suddenly wants his walking papers.
So in essence, the Raiders have already voided Brown’s nearly $30 million in guaranteed money, theoretically forcing him to show up and play to earn his paycheck. Brown is not happy about this development, and ESPN’s Jeff Darlington received an email from Brown breaking down the situation.
So it appears we have a good old fashioned stand off, with Brown refusing to play for the team that traded a third round pick for him since the Raiders voided his guaranteed money. That money was voided after Brown was fined for conduct detrimental to the team, meaning Brown cost himself his guaranteed money and is now throwing a tantrum about it.
It’s hard to see how this ends well for the Raiders, who may be forced to simply cut their losses and move on. If Brown does hit the free agent market, it would be interesting to see how many teams would line up to take him given the immense headache he could cause in the locker room.