Getty Buccaneers receiver Antonio Brown continued to take jabs at Tom Brady.
The Antonio Brown drama isn’t over just yet.
Although the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have officially released Brown — he’s already cleared waivers — and both sides have exchanged barbs at one another, the veteran receiver isn’t over talking just yet.
While appearing on the “Full Send Podcast” on Friday, January 7, Brown threw some jabs at the Bucs — and Tom Brady — about his most recent contract with Tampa Bay. Prior to his release, Brown was playing on a contract that paid him a base salary of a little over $900,000. With incentives, the deal could have reached as much as over $6 million.
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AB Takes Swipe at Brady for ‘Prove-It Contract’
“To me, a friend is someone who’s got your back,” Brown said on the “Full Send Podcast.” “Not everybody in sports is going to be your friend. Tom Brady’s my friend. Why? Because I’m a good football player. He needs me to play football, right? People have different meanings of what friendship is.”
“You can’t really expect anyone to be your friend in the business of football,” Brown continued. “In the business of football, our business is winning. Brady and I like winning. We have that in common. That’s what makes me want to be around him, makes us jell, makes us great. I’m out here getting prove-it contracts, you say you’re my friend, I shouldn’t be playing on that type of deal when I came here and we won a Super Bowl.”
AB Takes Jab at Gronkowski’s Contract
In the process of complaining about his Bucs contract, Brown compared his deal to that of fellow Brady buddy, Rob Gronkowski. Gronkowski has a deal worth $8 million this season.
“If Tom Brady’s my boy, why am I playing for an earnest salary?” Brown said. “You my boy, though, right? Gronkowski is his boy, right? How much did he get paid? So, why is AB on a prove-it deal? Who’s better than me over there? Let’s be real. But, you guys going to make it seem like he’s just this heroic guy. Bro, we all humans. Bro, we’re all dependent on somebody else to do the job.”
There’s no doubt that Brown’s value to the Bucs was immense. In fact, despite missing much of the season due to an ankle injury, the 33-year-old still ranks second on the team in receiving yards per game (77.9 yards), ranking only behind Chris Godwin. When Godwin was ruled out for the season due to an ACL injury, Brown’s importance to the team became even more apparent.
One can safely assume that the Bucs kept Brown — even after a three-game suspension due to misrepresenting his vaccination status — because of his value to the team.
However, one also has to keep into perspective that Brown was back in the NFL largely because of Brady. It was Brady who was behind getting Brown signed by the New England Patriots back in 2019. And it was Brady once again who supported the Bucs’ signing of Brown in October of 2020.
This was in spite of Brown’s recent history and off-the-field allegations.
While Brown’s ability and production cannot be questioned, another fact that can’t be ignored is that he’s burned his bridges now with four teams in the span of just three years.
All of these things factor into a player’s value to a team. If a player has a rough history and there aren’t exactly many teams lining up to sign said player, the contract value is going to be lower.
Despite being 12 years into his career, Brown remains as good as any receiver in the NFL. However, these types of comments — and the attitude of burning bridges — isn’t going to help in his effort to get signed by a team entering the 2022 season.