Antonio Brown (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
Antonio Brown isn’t currently signed with an NFL team, but if he finds a new football home this offseason, he’ll have to sit out the first half of the season.
If a team ends up wanting to sign Antonio Brown, they’ll know now how long of a suspension he’ll serve. Brown will have to sit out the first eight games of the 2020 season per Tom Pelissero.
Brown has not played an NFL snap since week two of last season after he was released by the Patriots due to a sexual assault and rape accusation. Brown spent the rest of the season running his mouth and continuing to get into trouble and his suspension is for violating personal conduct policy.
Brown spent the first nine years with the Pittsburgh Steelers and was a diamond in the rough for them after they took him in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL Draft out of Central Michigan. He was traded to the Raiders prior to 2019 seaso but complained enough to where he was released.
Brown then had the option to sign with whoever he wanted to and of course, he chose the Patriots. He played just one game with the Patriots before he was released and has been out of football ever since.
Just because Brown hasn’t been in the league doesn’t mean teams haven’t flirted with signing him. The Seahawks and Ravens are two teams who have been linked to Brown’s services and while his name was being thrown out for the Buccaneers, head coach Bruce Arians nixed that notion several months ago.
Eight games is a hefty suspension, but if the Ravens, Seahawks, or whoever did sign him, they would be fine for the first half of the season without him and then would have the four-time All-Pro wide receiver for the second half of the season and throughout the playoffs.
While a suspension like that, plus the acts of what Brown did to get himself suspended in the first place, should be enough to deter a team from signing him, talent talks in the NFL. If a team feels they have a need at wide receiver, Brown’s history and now his eight-game suspension probably won’t be enough to scare them off.