Antonio Brown

[tmajr3]

Let's just play along here and say for the sake or argument that Antonio Brown should not play for the team.

They can make it through next week vs the Jets, but CLE, BAL, PHI, DAL, HOU, KC is a BRUTAL stretch. 1 injury and there will be utter panic. I know Meyers and Gunner are well liked by people on this board, but will they win 1 on 1s in January when Edelman is doubled? I don't see it.

People keep saying "LOOK AT LAST YEAR 13 POINTS WON IT!!"

Very true, but Gronk was here and the OL was much better. Edelman and Gordon are already banged up and the TEs are worthless. Relying on JMcD to scheme the offense to points is putting a lot of pressure on him. Winning the AFCCG took 2(?) incredible drives by TB12 with big catches by Gronk, Hogan, and JE11.

If Edelman is doubled, who can win 1 on 1s? AB can. Sanders probably can.

Also, the funniest part is Kraft's utter hypocrisy in this whole thing. Guy is running around chasing 20 year old tail by night and 50+ year old masseuses by day.

 

[IllegalContact]

Not really. Dillon faces multiple arrests for domestic violence/assault, Moss was a notorious problem child, Haynesworth was accused and arrested for assault and charges of fraud, Hernandez was involved in multiple altercations at Florida before being drafted by the Patriots. With Brown, everything that we’ve seen thus far points to the very large possibility that the sex was consensual. There have been no reports about him being a problem in the locker room, either. Brown’s no different than any of the other problem children we’ve taken on. That’s because Belichick is the best in the business at handling them.



We’re not even sure if Belichick was the one who pulled the trigger on that. If he was, why wouldn’t Brown go off on him like he did with Kraft? Why has he gone out of his way to praise Belichick, the man who presumably cut him, after getting cut if he is clearly not happy with the decision? Oh, I know. It’s because Kraft made that decision.



So we can put you down as a “no- Belichick is in over his head with Brown and does not possess the capacity to handle him,” correct?

he failed to handle brown, that’s for sure

 

[IllegalContact]

scam is an interesting choice of word for contract guarantees

As well as other portions of a contract.....

 

[Kontradiction]

he failed to handle brown, that’s for sure

Nah, I think he had it when it comes to what’s important - the team. Hopefully Harry comes back like gangbusters and makes this a non issue.

 

[tmajr3]

Nah, I think he had it when it comes to what’s important - the team. Hopefully Harry comes back like gangbusters and makes this a non issue.

Yeah all the reports that he looks like a damn LB walking around the locker room.

Edelman, Harry, Gordon, Dorsett, and Manny Sanders? Ben Watson thrown in?

 

[Biffins]

Not only was @Crazy Patriot Guy not the one that made the post, there was nothing juvenile or insulting in it. Your lack of personal grace is a perfect match with your inattention to detail and inability to comprehend the written word. A simple thank you for my willingness to engage and expand when you clearly were not running on all 8 cylinders might have been a better choice, certainly taking the correct person to task for an imagined slight would have been.

Don’t worry, I have no intent to further engage or enlighten an uncouth individual as yourself. Bye.

 

[jah]

Don’t worry, I have no intent to further engage or enlighten an uncouth individual as yourself. Bye.

*tips fedora*

 

[XLIX]

Nothing in those texts constitutes harassment or threats. If it does, she’s free to go to the police, why she hasn’t.

Contacting someone who doesn’t want to be contacted is the definition of harassment, so yeah that’s harassment.

Yeah she could’ve gone to the police. Or she could’ve done the smart thing, given the circumstances, and made it public. Which she did.

 

[brdmaverick]

Not a whole lot of faith in the coach there when it comes to personnel management. How is Brown any different than the loose cannons Belichick has handled in the past?

His actions make him different.

Typically a player gets a bad rap and manages to get shipped to a new team. When he goes to his new team I'd say in 98% of the cases the disgruntled player 'plays nice' and just wants to 'fit in' the first year. Often they are just happy and thankful to be out of their prior situation.

Antonio Brown couldn't even play nice with the Raiders for one game and this is AFTER he got a new deal with a big signing bonus. He should have been on cloud 9 and followed the company line, but no, not AB. Despite being given lots of money and a fresh start he couldn't do what was asked.

Then he joins the Pats.......ah yeah, the one team that can handle any malcontent. Sure, he played nice on the field, but couldn't help himself from social media and off the field shenanigans. Sure, it was a stressful situation, but you know Brady would have handled that like a lawyer (and stay quiet as much as possible). Instead, AB is threatening people via text and posting bad things about Robert Kraft one minute, then 'take me back' the next.

So yeah, anyone who can't play nice in year one with a new team after getting a big signing bonus is a huge RED FLAG for me.....that shows 'next level' crazy. Do I want it to work out, sure, but I realize I'm living in a fantasy land where AB shuts his mouth, stays out of the news, and focuses strictly on football. I don't see that happening with him for reasons already mentioned. HE NEEDS THE SPOTLIGHT

 

[shmessy]

Let's just play along here and say for the sake or argument that Antonio Brown should not play for the team.

Do these staunch people who permanently reside up Kraft's rectum (I'm looking at you @shmessy ) even understand the salary cap implications and why releasing him like this was a big error in judgment? Take AB's antics/accusations out of the equation and let's just say it's anyone who the team decides they don't want.

The Patriots gave him roughly $9M guaranteed over two years and spread the cap hit over two years. By doing this, they took a 4.5M charge this year, leaving them with about $5M remaining in cap space in case they needed to add a player, account for a trade, etc. By releasing him, his signing bonus accelerated, so they are now on the hook for the full $9M this year...or in other words, it decimated their flexibility for this season. Even if they ultimately do win the grievance and get a cap credit, their 2019 flexibility is gone.

There's a lot of talk about how Kraft never would have done this deal if he'd known about the lawsuit. Belichick never would have done this deal if it were one-year, not two, and ate up all the remaining space. And the only way that scenario could play out is by the Patriots releasing him. So you can talk all you want about Kraft's decision about Brown on the team. but releasing him in this way has huge consequences beyond just not having Brown.

The Patriots had an option to keep Brown even if they didn't want him to play another down for them. Exempt List literally means he can be suspended by the league and the Patriots can use the exempt roster spot for someone else. A suspension largely achieves the same ends as it also provides a roster exemption. They very well may have had the option to leave him on the exempt/suspended roster without having to wreck their cap space for this year. Now is there 100% certainty this would have happened? No, we don't know because Kraft threw away a chance at reviewing his options, but it's absolutely not far fetched to believe this scenario could have happened where they can avoid losing that cap space and still freezing out Brown.

Let's see if the people who don't like Brown (fine, that's your opinion) can acknowledge that this wasn't a smart cap decision, or if they'll dig in their heels, make irrelevant arguments about Brown's bad behavior, etc. (my money is that they definitely will resort to this.)

The error was signing him in the first place.

See THAT didn’t take nearly as many words as you used.

By the way - why so angry/aggressive? Don’ t give yourself a heart attack.

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[brdmaverick]

Not a whole lot of faith in the coach there when it comes to personnel management. How is Brown any different than the loose cannons Belichick has handled in the past?

This has nothing to do with my faith in the coach. In fact, I don't blame the Pats for taking a chance. It was an unique opportunity to grab a player on the cheap who has world class talent at a position of need...........but they even found out he's not worth the trouble. If he's not worth the trouble then, do we really think he's changed in a couple weeks? He's going to be a constant distraction.

I wish wish wish he could fall in line, shut his mouth, and produce but if we're being honest with ourselves what's more likely...........this being a good experiment or a bad one? The needle has to be tilting towards 'bad'.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

The error was signing him in the first place.

See THAT didn’t take nearly as many words as you used.

By the way - why so angry/aggressive? Don’ t give yourself a heart attack.

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But I clearly posited here that signing him was a mistake in the first place. So that mistake has been made, for the sake of this argument, but the team still has various options. Your response doesn’t take as many words because you avoid answering the question. Even if the Patriots didn’t want him playing, couldn’t they have handled this better, keeping him on exempt/suspension, simply to avoid a double cap charge in 2019? Just by keeping him suspended/exempt, they would have another 4-5M this year in cap flexibility. No Brown so you don’t have to root for him. No roster spot wasted. Cap crisis averted.

 

[shmessy]

So....when is AB back at practice?

Practice of what??

He’s a loon. He jumped 3 teams and the other 29 are avoiding him like a leper.

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[shmessy]

But I clearly posited here that signing him was a mistake in the first place. So that mistake has been made. Your response doesn’t take as many words because you avoid answering the question. Even if the Patriots didn’t want him playing, couldn’t they have handled this better, keeping him on exempt/suspension, simply to avoid a double cap charge in 2019? Just by keeping him suspended/exempt, they would have another 4-5M this year in cap flexibility. No Brown so you don’t have to root for him. No roster spot wasted. Cap crisis averted.

Keeping him on WHAT “exempt/suspension” of which you speak????

Goodwill hadn’t moved an inch other than to say they were investigating. That could’ve taken a loooonng time.

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[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Keeping him on WHAT “exempt/suspension” of which you speak????

The one he was heading to, almost certainly, since the investigation had just begun and Goodell has met with Taylor the day before. But if you’re asking for a guarantee he’d be on EL, that’s impossible to give because they cut him before even learning about his Exempt List status.

 

[shmessy]

The one he was heading to, almost certainly, since the investigation had just begun and Goodell has met with Taylor the day before. But if you’re asking for a guarantee he’d be on IL, that’s impossible to give because they cut him before even learning about his Exempt List status.

Oh, so you are stating as a fact what you think Goodell was going to do for his good friends the Patriots?

Nice. You’re jumping to conclusions. I’m not playing your game.

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[Ice_Ice_Brady]

The one he was heading to, almost certainly, since the investigation had just begun and Goodell has met with Taylor the day before. But if you’re asking for a guarantee he’d be on EL, that’s impossible to give because they cut him before even learning about his Exempt List status.

Oh, so you are stating as a fact what you think Goodell was going to do for his good friends the Patriots?

Nice. You’re jumping to conclusions. I’m not playing your game.

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Are you serious? I specifically said I can’t state it as a fact. They would have had to wait a few more days...doesn’t seem like a lot of time to wait when your 2019 cap is on the line.

 

[shmessy]

Don’t worry, I have no intent to further engage or enlighten an uncouth individual as yourself. Bye.

Hey, why is HE the lucky one??????

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[shmessy]

Are you serious? I specifically said I can’t state it as a fact. They would have had to wait a few more days...doesn’t seem like a lot of time to wait when your 2019 cap is on the line.

Ok, you are lost. Get a map. If you base a supposition on it but say you can’t state it as fact, then you are simply wasting peoples’ time.

I gave you a chance, but the above is what it is.

Tighten up your argument and I’ll be happy to engage it. Until then, Ice up, son.

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[IllegalContact]

Nah, I think he had it when it comes to what’s important - the team. Hopefully Harry comes back like gangbusters and makes this a non issue.

either way, I am glad brown is not coming back