Antonio Brown now plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and not one of these three NFL teams.
Antonio Brown will be joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in his triumphant NFL return in Week 9.
One of the most talented wide receivers of his generation will be back in the league in two weeks once he completes his eight-game suspension stemming from all the dumb stuff he got himself into last season. With the Buccaneers being his fourth team, after the Pittsburgh Steelers, the then-Oakland Raiders and the New England Patriots, these three other franchises missed out.
Three NFL teams missed out on the Antonio Brown free agency sweepstakes
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Baltimore Ravens
AFC North
One team that was rumored to potentially land him at some juncture in 2020 was the Baltimore Ravens. There were three things working in Brown’s favor to possibly join the Ravens Flock. One, he’d be going to the Steelers’ arch-rival. Two, his younger cousin Marquise “Hollywood” Brown is in this receiving corps. And three, the Ravens have one of the worst passing offenses in the NFL.
Outside of tight end Mark Andrews, there’s not a ton that “wows” us in the receiving game for the Ravens. That’s not to say “Hollywood” Brown isn’t a capable receiver, because he is, it’s just more about the offensive philosophy of the team itself. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman would prefer to use the one-plus offensive attack with Lamar Jackson‘s legs more than move the sticks aerially.
Through the first six weeks of the 2020 season, the Ravens are 29th in passing offense with only 1,067 yards through the air. While Jackson and the Ravens’ passing attack has thrown 10 touchdowns to only three interceptions, we know how the Baltimore offense’s bread is buttered, and so do the best defenses in the AFC. They can’t afford to be one-dimensional again in January.
This is a critical year for the Ravens come the postseason. Barring widespread injuries, they will make the AFC playoffs for the third year in a row. However, they have to win a playoff game, especially if the Ravens win the division and host an opponent at home. Brown may not have been a schematic fit, but he’d at least add an interesting wrinkle to Baltimore’s ground-centric offense.