Stephen A. Smith Addresses Patriots’ Signing of Antonio Brown

Antonio Brown

Getty Antonio Brown signed with the Patriots last weekend.

Antonio Brown’s recent move to sign with the New England Patriots was a surprise to many. This included ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith, who admitted to not being a fan of how the receiver’s time with the Oakland Raiders played out.

Smith joined Power 105’s The Breakfast Club on Thursday to address a number of topics, including Brown’s addition to the Patriots.

The ESPN First Take host even found out that the New England Patriots wide receiver had blocked him on Twitter, as Angela Yee revealed.

Smith spoke about multiple different subjects, specifically relating to Brown signing with the Patriots after being released by the Raiders.

“He was guaranteed $30 million from Oakland. He’s only guaranteed $9 [million] from New England. $5 [million] he could earn in incentives and then they’ve got an option of $20 million on the second year. They are in complete control of his destiny with them.”


Antonio Brown Accused of Sexual Assault

Brown has been accused of three incidents of sexual assault in 2017 and 2018 with his former trainer, Britney Taylor. The accusations came in a federal lawsuit filed by Taylor on Tuesday in the Southern District of Florida.

Brown’s attorneys denied all accusations through a statement and added: “Antonio Brown will leave no stone unturned and will aggressively defend himself, including exercising all of his rights in countersuits.”

The Patriots released a statement on the lawsuit filed against Brown shortly after the initial accusations were revealed publicly.

“We are aware of the civil lawsuit that was filed earlier today against Antonio Brown, as well as the response by Antonio’s representatives. We take these allegations very seriously. Under no circumstances does this organization condone sexual violence or assault. The league has informed us that they will be investigating. We will have no further comment while that investigation takes place.”


Antonio Brown on Commissioner’s Exempt List a Possibility

It was first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter that the Patriots could place Brown on the commissioner’s exempt list. He also reported that the team was caught by surprise by the allegations.

Here are more details from Schefter on the potential move.

The Patriots were caught by surprise, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter, and the team will have to decide how to proceed with Brown, who was scheduled for his first practice with New England on Wednesday. One possibility is that Roger Goodell will place Brown on the commissioner’s exempt list, sources said, which would mean Brown will not be counted on the Patriots’ active list while the league investigates the allegations.

There has been no official decision revealed by the team and no update on Brown’s status for Week 2 of the 2019 NFL season to this point.