SCHEFTER: Patriots Won’t Bring Back Antonio Brown
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New England Patriots > Patriots Blog
There are many Patriots fans out there who may be hoping that embattled receiver Antonio Brown might make a return to New England, but it appears that the door for that option may finally be closed.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, sources told him that the Patriots will not re-sign Brown, which should end that speculation.
Brown was terrific in his one outing with the Patriots, finishing with 4 receptions for 56-yards and a touchdown down in Miami in their blowout win over the Dolphins back on September 15th. But that would be his only appearance with the team after sexual assault allegations had earlier surfaced and Brown made the mistake of texting one of his accusers with language that was deemed potentially threatening, which ultimately led to his release.
The league has since conducted an investigation and over that span, the possibility existed that Brown would have been placed on the commissioner’s exempt list, which would have potentially made him ineligible to play even if he was still on the Patriots’ roster. But Brown has also since had outbursts on social media where he took shots at owner Robert Kraft, which certainly didn’t help the situation. Brown has since apologized, but the damage was done.
In the meantime, it sounds like Brown may soon be eligible to return to football and his agent believes there are teams out there who “would love to sign him” once all of this is resolved.
Either way, it appears that a return to New England won’t be an option. The only concern now could possibly be that once Brown becomes eligible to play, the possibility exists that he could potentially land on a roster of a team the Patriots could face in January, which could see him lining up against his former team in the postseason.
New England is currently preparing for a critical game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Gillette Stadium later this afternoon at 4:25 pm.