Feature: What Would I Tell Teams If I Were Antonio Brown's Agent?

This isn’t a hot take. This isn’t breaking news. Unfortunately, this is essentially common knowledge at this point. It only takes the most casual of football fans to know that Antonio Brown is one of the most talented, yet one of the most controversial football players the NFL has ever seen. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year, most people know that AB was probably the most bizarre athlete in sports in 2019. If you were in fact living under a rock, I’ll go ahead and do you a quick little favor!

Here is a short list of things (In Chronological Order) that led to arguably the best receiver in football being unemployed since Week 2 of the past season:

-Got into a heated altercation with Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger which led to Brown throwing a football at him during a walkthrough, then opted to skip the rest of the week’s practices before a crucial game with major playoff implications. He was then benched (essentially suspended) for the game

-Forced his way out of Pittsburgh and got traded to the Oakland Raiders

-Started a twitter war with former teammate Steelers teammate JuJu Smith-Schuster, including “exposing him” by posting screenshots of messages from a young JuJu (who looked up to AB) reaching out to him for tips to improve his game while in college

-After signing a contract extension with the Raiders, Brown skipped OTA’s and threatened to retire because the NFL wouldn’t let him play with his old helmet

- Missed the majority of training camp because the bottom of his feet were severly frozen due to entering a cryotherapy machine barefoot

-Openly clashed with Raiders coaches and GM Mike Mayock, including a very heated confrontation with Mayock at practice in front of the whole team after getting fined for all his absences.

-After being suspended and un-suspended for Week 1, Brown posted on Instagram telling the Raiders to release him after being fined more than $200,000 and having a majority of his $30 million in guarantees voided

-Brown was released from the Raiders that day and signed with the New England Patriots

- Only ended up playing 1 game for the Patriots and was then released after in the midst of a lawsuit being filed against him due to sexual assault allegations from former trainer Brittney Taylor

This list doesn’t even include the most recent issues he’s had with the law which led to his arrest in January. For those who don’t want to take the time to read through that list, I’ll do you another favor and briefly summarize it for you! Despite leading the NFL in touchdown catches the prior year, Antonio Brown managed to force himself off of three different teams in the span of six months. How does that happen? Read the list!

Now, for the purpose of this article (and my college major) I will be acting as Antonio Brown’s agent with the hopes of trying to get him another chance with an NFL team. Lack of talent is clearly not what is stopping a team from signing him. Teams know that the NFL will most likely suspend him for a good portion of next season if he gets reinstated due to his recent arrest and ongoing sexual assault investigation. Teams also know that Brown brings a lot of baggage and negative media attention with him despite his immense talent, which can negatively impact team chemistry. However, Antonio has publicly apologized for his actions that led three teams to move on in the past six months and says he is ready to just play football again. He also has a reputation as one of the hardest working players in the NFL. If everything works out perfectly (BIG IF) he can give a team a bona-fide Top-5 receiver to add to their offense. Below, I will break down my plan as AB’s agent to try to find the right fit for my client.

Step 1- Find a Super Bowl contender with a need at receiver:

Let’s face it, AB does not want to play for a losing team. As his agent, I firmly agree that is best for both parties involved as him being unhappy in a situation has too much potential for a disaster in what could be his last chance. When it comes to contenders, teams that have more than enough talent at receiver such as the Chiefs and the Bucs likely won’t want to take the risk of signing my client and have it negatively affect their locker room. That leaves us with the following list of teams:

Baltimore Ravens, Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks

Step 2- Find a situation in which Brown will be the unquestioned No. 1 receiver in a pass-first offense:

Ever since his breakout 2013 season, my client has developed quite the ego. To keep him happy, he will definitely need to see a minimum of 150 targets to ensure he won’t go around publicly complaining to the media about not getting the ball enough. Therefore, it wouldn’t be ideal to put him in an offense centered around the running backs such as the Vikings and 49ers. A situation in which he isn’t the focal point of the passing game could also potentially cause problems, as evidenced towards the end of his run with the Steelers when JuJu Smith-Schuster started taking targets away from him. In Green Bay, Davante Adams would likely still be Aaron Rodgers’ top target due to the familiarity between them, so let’s avoid that situation as well. That leaves us with the following list of teams:

Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts, Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks

Step 3- Find a team with a veteran coach and a culture that welcomes big personalities:

It’s no secret that my client will bring a ton of media attention with him wherever he goes, which will lead to distractions. This could potentially cause issues for a smaller-market team that isn’t consistently in the headlines. The Colts have a relatively quiet locker room and have a very team-first culture and don’t have a history of getting “me guys” on the roster during Chris Ballard’s term as GM. On the football field, I think this could be a great fit. In the locker room though, I just don’t see this mutually being a good fit as I don’t think my client fits well into what the culture they are building in Indianapolis. I could see him fitting in better with the Eagles but if they didn’t sign Brown while they were down to their practice squad receivers last year, there is little reason to think they would be interested now with their receivers returning from injury and investing a first-round pick at the position. That leaves us with our final two teams:

Baltimore Ravens, Seattle Seahawks

Step 4- Pitching The Teams:

Baltimore Ravens- First off, your franchise quarterback and reigning league MVP Lamar Jackson came out and publicly said he would be happy if the team signed Antonio Brown. When your biggest star wants something, you listen. Last year, your receivers combined for 115 catches for 1,419 yards and 17 touchdowns. Just two years ago, Brown caught 104 balls for 1,297 yards and 15 touchdowns by himself! No wonder why Lamar said he’d be happy if you signed my client. When you will likely need to beat the Kansas City Chiefs to get to the Super Bowl, you need to be prepared for a shootout as it is nearly a guarantee Patrick Mahomes and crew will put up plenty of points. Adding a bona-fide No. 1 option like Brown to your passing game not only gives you the firepower needed to beat the Chiefs, but also makes Lamar less reliant on scrambling which helps you keep your main investment healthy in the long-run. In terms of how he’d fit in the locker room, my client has been consistently working out with some of your star players such as Lamar Jackson and his cousin Hollywood Brown. Having a good relationship with the co-stars on offense will be crucial to maintaining the chemistry on that side of the ball, and that great relationship between them is already there. Worst case, it doesn’t work out and you cut him. Best case, this is the piece you’re missing that kept you from winning the Super Bowl last year.

Seattle Seahawks- The NFC is loaded with quality teams that could contend for a Super Bowl. You are in arguably the toughest division in football this year and simply cannot afford to stand pat if you want to keep up with the rest of the conference. The face of your franchise and star quarterback Russell Wilson recently came out and said he wants Antonio Brown on the team. Can you blame him? Yes, there is a lot of promising young talent at the position with Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf. But unlike a lot of other All-Pro quarterbacks, he’s never had a true star receiver to throw to. Adding that caliber of a receiver to a pass-catching corps that includes Metcalf and Lockett as well as tight ends Greg Olsen and Will Dissly will make this group by far the best Wilson has had to work with. Then you’ll really be able to unleash the passing game which is going to be crucial for your offense this year considering running backs Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny are coming off of major injuries. Not only will signing my client elevate Wilson to a new level that could win him his 1st MVP, but this young receiving core can learn a lot from simply seeing how hard my client practices. Metcalf, who is your WR1 of the future, can definitely benefit from a route-running perspective alone just from working with Brown. Pete Carroll runs a very player-friendly locker room that allows them to express themselves which meshes extremely well with my clients big personality. He is one of the two best coaches in the business at getting the most out of his players. When you combine that with the veteran leadership on this team, you should be very confident that you’ll be getting the most out of one of the best receivers in the game at an extremely discounted price. This takes you from having a slight chance to win the NFC West to being a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

In both scenarios, I am pursuing a 1 year contract worth $8 million with $3 million being guaranteed. This contract will also have many incentive-based bonuses that would kick in if my client is able to stay on the field and perform up to his usual standards. The Seahawks have a bit more cap room than the Ravens here so they can offer a bit more money. I also think they have a slightly better structure and system in place for him to have the best chance of success in my opinion. Therefore, I am predicting that Antonio Brown will end up a Seahawk.