TAMPA, Fla. — The question surrounding Antonio Brown’s contract situation and why a deal hasn’t been officially signed yet was answered this week thanks to Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ head coach Bruce Arians’ appearance on the Pewter Report Podcast.
Quite simply, Brown was having a knee procedure done and needed to pass his physical before signing. Pretty standard, pretty cut-and-dry, nothing out of the ordinary.
That is, unless you want to make it out of the ordinary.
When commenting on the story, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio began throwing out a theory that Brown hadn’t officially signed because the Buccaneers may want to feature rookie Jaelon Darden more or that they were hoping Brown actually failed his physical in order to back out of the deal.
Teams don’t make offers to players hoping that the agreements fall apart or are voided. It seems beyond unlikely that this situation is one where the Bucs are having “buyer’s remorse” and hoping that they can weasel their way out of the one-year contract Brown agreed to. This should be obvious for a multitude of reasons.
For starters, the Buccaneers didn’t need to bring Antonio Brown back. Yes, he certainly helped contribute down the stretch and was a big factor in the Wild Card game against the Washington Football Team. Yes, he scored a touchdown in the Super Bowl. However, the Bucs’ signing of AB is a luxury move not one born of necessity. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are two of the best receivers in the league, Scotty Miller is emerging as a top deep threat, Tyler Johnson has plenty of untapped potential that could be exposed with more opportunity. Not to mention, there’s still Rob Gronkowski, Cameron Brate, and a returning O.J. Howard who, until he ruptured his Achilles, was one of Tom Brady’s favorite targets.
If the Bucs didn’t want Brown back, they never had to offer him a deal in the first place.
RELATED: Buccaneers re-sign Antonio Brown
Second, Jaelon Darden is not Antonio Brown. All due respect to the standout from North Texas, Antonio Brown is one of the best receivers and route runners we’ve seen come through the NFL in the last decade. Even his touchdown in Super Bowl LV was scored by an incredible, albeit improvised, route that left perennial Pro Bowl safety Tyrann Mathieu unable to stop him. The notion that a fourth-round pick could immediately walk in the door and usurp Brown is far-fetched. Not impossible, but highly improbable.
Arians spoke highly of Brown on the Pewter Report Podcast, saying he was a model citizen in Tampa and that he wanted AB back for another year. It goes without saying that Brown and Brady’s relationship - and the respect they have for one another - play a huge role in not only Brown’s spot on the team, but his willingness to quietly go to work each day and not allow himself to become the distraction he was late in his tenure with the Pittsburgh Steelers or in his brief stint with the then-Oakland Raiders.
Brown had his procedure, he will pass his physical, and he will sign his contract to join the Buccaneers in 2021. There’s no reason to believe otherwise.
For more on this story and for more on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, check out the Locked On Bucs Podcast.
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