Getty Antonio Brown playing against the Bears in 2017.
Antonio Brown in a Chicago Bears uniform? According to BetOnline.ag, the Bears are among the teams who have the best odds to sign Brown once he finishes serving his current eight-game suspension. Over the past year alone, Brown has been accused of rape, of trashing a multi-million dollar condo and of neglecting to pay a moving company and later assaulting a driver who worked for said company.
Through it all, Brown was suspended for a total of eight games for the upcoming 2020 season. The troubled wide receiver could wind up serving a longer suspension than that if there are further violations found related to his ongoing civil suit in Florida, NFL insider Tom Pelissero reported July 31. Clearly, his legal issues — plural — are far from resolved.
“A source said Antonio Brown recently got close to settling his case with Britney Taylor and scheduled a mediation but then backed out of it,” ESPN analyst Jeremy Fowler reported via Twitter. “That’s the second time he’s gotten close to settling, then publicly hinted at retirement shortly thereafter.” Taylor accused Brown of rape and sexual assault, and Brown countersued her for defamation, with neither getting any kind of resolution out of their respective lawsuits. Both suits are still unsettled.
Antonio Brown’s eight-game suspension takes effect Week 1, regardless of whether he’s on a roster — and could be extended if further violations are found related to an ongoing civil suit in Florida, per source.
So AB is sidelined at least through Week 8, and potentially longer
Brown has also hinted at retirement multiple times, including once last month, but his retirement is anything but official. And considering the fact that he was widely considered to be the best wide receiver in football just two years ago, he will very likely have at least a few suitors if he decides he wants to play football again. Brown just turned 32, and he played in just one game during the 2019 season, so his return is more likely than not.
Would the Bears Be a Good Fit for Antonio Brown?
That would be a resounding ‘no’. GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy have gone to great lengths to keep the locker room free of contentious and/or egocentric players, and a player like Brown, whose behavior has been erratic at best, simply wouldn’t mesh well in a locker room full of selfless guys.
That said, football is a business, and Brown is a mega-talented athlete. Considering all the trouble he has seen off the field, coupled with his current hiatus, he would likely come very cheap. His contract would probably be for just one year, and it would certainly be chock full of incentives, making him a low-risk, high-reward signing. But that still doesn’t make him a good fit in Chicago, and I’m not sure why the folks at BetOnline thought the Bears would even crack the top 10 teams favored to sign him — but they did.
One thing that should scare Bears fans a bit — their rivals to the North, the Green Bay Packers, have been dubbed the favorites to land Brown.
Not sure about this one, but @betonline_ag has the #Bears with the 8th best odds to sign Antonio Brown in 2020.
Packers: 2/1
Seahawks: 5/2
Buccaneers: 3/1
Ravens: 4/1
Eagles: 15/2
Colts/Jaguars: 10/1
Bears: 12/1
Bengals: 15/1
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Bears Likely Wouldn’t Go After Brown — But if Packers Do, They’re in Trouble
While Brown has been linked to the Seahawks and Ravens — he worked out with Russell Wilson this summer, and MVP Lamar Jackson had actively recruited Brown to Baltimore — the Packers are the favorites to sign him, according to BetOnline.
Brown to the Pack would make too much sense; Aaron Rodgers didn’t get the game-changing wideout he wanted in the draft this year, and AB would be a cheap option who would instantly change the look of the Packers’ offense. Imagining Davante Adams and Antonio Brown catching passes from Rodgers should put more than a little fear into the hearts of Bears fans, who watched Green Bay win the NFC North yet again last season. So while it’s highly unlikely Chicago would bite if Brown were dangled in front of them, they had better hope Green Bay doesn’t, either.
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