With the decreased salary cap this season, former Buffalo Bills wide receiver John Brown became just one of several cap casualties of this offseason on Wednesday when the Bills decided to release the veteran wideout.
Now, Brown is questioning the decision.
During an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Thursday with Solomon Wilcots and Ed McCaffrey, Brown talked about the process of the Bills releasing him just two years into a three-year deal. At this point in the year, several players are being cut to free up salary cap space, and while Brown is one of them he wanted to know if his quarterback had any say in the matter.
“We weren’t even given a heads up,” Brown said on Thursday during his appearance. “But I’m a strong believer in God and I just had a feeling it was going to come to that time, especially when the money dropped. And I dealt with a few injuries so I missed, like, five games. But you know, different situations, the way things could have been handled. Like, I don’t know if they gave Josh Allen input on it, a big-time quarterback he should have had input. Or, if he did have input I thought he would want me to stay.”
Brown was a big part of Allen’s development as a quarterback in 2019, when Brown had one of the best seasons of his career and set new career highs in receptions (72) and receiving yards (1,060). It was just the second time of his career where he topped 1,000 receiving yards as well.
But, things changed this past season as Brown only played in nine regular season games and had one of the worst seasons of his career. He caught 33 passes for 458 yards and three touchdowns while dealing with injuries throughout the season.
By releasing Brown, the Bills also saved $7.93 million in cap space according to Spotrac.com.
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Brown Mentions Two Teams That He’s Interested In
Now Brown has somewhat of a choice of where he goes next. He’s 30 years old and still has a little bit left in the tank and could provide any team with another deep threat down the field like he’s done all throughout his career.
In his interview on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Brown mentioned both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Indianapolis Colts as teams he might be interested in when it comes to choosing a team in free agency. But, it also depends on what teams are in need of receivers.
“It depends on who needs receivers but ya know the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ben is definitely good with the deep ball and the Indianapolis Colts with the way they used T.Y. Hilton, ” Brown said. “When we played those guys in the playoffs last year and I walked and I was like this team is up and coming. They going to be a problem in the next few years. I feel like I will fit in anywhere but those are the main two off top.”
“The Pittsburgh Steelers, Big Ben is definitely good with the deep ball and the Indianapolis Colts”
– Free Agent WR John Brown joined us to talk about his release and teams he’d like to play for.
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In his seven-year career, Brown has played for the Bills, Baltimore Ravens, and the Arizona Cardinals, so he was a little experience with the AFC North and could provide Roethlisberger or new Colts quarterback Carson Wentz with another option on the outside.
The Bills Have the Depth to Replace Brown Internally
Bills general manager Brandon Beane could address the opening Brown’s release creates in free agency, but they also might have a solution on their team already.
When Brown was out this past season, rookie wide receiver Gabriel Davis seamlessly stepped into his place and gave Allen another option on the outside. Even though he was still in his first-year, Davis played like a veteran. He led the team in touchdown catches for a part of the season and finished the regular season with 35 catches for 599 yards and seven touchdowns.
Davis only topped the 100-yard receiving mark once this season and it came in Buffalo’s final regular season game against the Miami Dolphins when he caught two passes for 107 yards and a touchdown.
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John Brown Questions Bills Decision After Release