Getty Antonio Brown celebrated Tom Brady's signing with the Bucs.
After Tom Brady officially announced his signing with the Buccaneers, Antonio Brown was one of the first people to react on Instagram. Brown’s message to Brady was brief amidst rumors that both parties would like a reunion in Tampa Bay.
“Congrats champ ?,” Brown told Brady on Instagram.
The former Pro Bowl receiver also made a post on his own Instagram page featuring a photo of himself with Brady.
“Congrats to the legend @tombrady !!!!!!” Brown noted on Instagram.
The Bucs Are Reportedly Not in Favor of Signing AB
It does not appear that the Bucs are close to signing Brown despite rumors continuing to swirl that the receiver wants to follow Brady. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that there is a sense that Brady wants to bring Brown with him, but Buccaneers’ head coach Bruce Arians was not pleased with the receiver during their time together with the Steelers.
“No, there’s definitely some sense that Tom Brady would want to bring Antonio Brown with him,” Rapoport explained, per NFL.com. “This from some of the other teams that were potentially in the mix. What really wasn’t a secret Brady and AB have remained close. My understanding is this is not something that Bruce Arians is in favor of. He’s had Antonio Brown before. He had him a couple of years in Pittsburgh. Does not sound like it went well. This does not seem to be like the direction that the Bucs would be going.”
The NFL Has Not Announced If Brown Will Be Suspended
The NFL has an ongoing investigation into the sexual assault allegations involving Brown. The league has not announced whether Brown will be suspended, but there has been no rush to provide an answer since the receiver is not on an NFL roster.
If Brown is signed by a team, we can expect the NFL to provide a ruling on Brown’s potential suspension soon. At this point, it would be surprising if Brown played a full season if he is signed by a team given the looming investigation.
Bruce Arians Called AB a “Diva” During a 2019 Interview
Arians has been vocal about his displeasure with how Brown has handled things in recent years. The Bucs’ coach labeled Brown as a Diva during a 2019 interview on The Adam Schefter podcast.
“There’s too much miscommunication, too much … diva,” Arians explained, per NFL.com. “I’ve heard so many stories — I like Antonio — he plays as hard as anybody on Sunday, and he practices hard. He’s just gotta make better decisions off the field, be on time, do some of those little things.”
Brown took to Twitter to respond to Arians’ criticism with his own critique of the coach.
“He didn’t draft me he drafted @ESanders_10 same guy who missed rehab to go on networks to talk about me on situation he have zero clue! Arians now wears kangoo hats n glasses ? but ima diva! Done seen it all then they say we friends stop lien [sic],” Brown tweeted in January 2019.
It will be interesting to see if the Bucs make an exception for Brady’s preference to sign Brown. Time will tell if the Buccaneers or another team is willing to give Brown another chance.