Getty Antonio Brown remains unsigned.
Antonio Brown may go to another bay if Trent Williams can successfully recruit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers free agent star wide receiver away from Florida.
The San Francisco 49ers left tackle Trent Williams made the pitch on Instagram during Brown’s live video workout per @OurSF49ers on Twitter. “The bay would be booomin,” Williams commented.
Williams, who recently re-signed with the 49ers to a big contract, has an interest in bolstering a team that reached Super Bowl LIV before losing to the Kansas City Chiefs. The 49ers have good targets in Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel but could use a slot receiver such as Brown according to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Josh Schrock.
Williams’ lobbying may not go far, Schrock noted, as the 49ers looked at Brown in 2019 and passed on him. Brown went to the then-Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots for brief stints that year before arriving in Tampa as a free agent in 2020.
Brown, the last of the Bucs’ key free agents to remain unsigned, produced for Tampa in eight regular season games after signing with the team in October 2020. He caught 45 passes for 483 yards and four touchdowns. He kept up the production with touchdowns in the Wild Card round and Super Bowl but missed time in between due to a knee injury.
Questions Remain
His off-field issues create big question marks for free-agent suitors. He served an eight-game suspension in 2020 due to violations of the NFL’s personnel conduct policy, which stemmed from a civil lawsuit for sexual assault and rape allegations. His trial will occur in December 2021, and three teams he’s played for could get subpoenaed for employment information.
Brown reportedly may only get a one-year “prove it” deal from the Bucs per Ian Rapoport on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday. Rapoport also noted Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson’s interest in Brown.
On the other hand, Brown said on an Instagram video last weekend that he wants to come back to Tampa as he commented, “me and ‘Playoff Lenny’ are gonna work this out.” The two teammates, who both joined the Bucs as free agents in 2020, work out together at Brown’s gym, which J.C. Cornell of the Draft Network shared a video of on March 21.
Leonard Fournette, often known as “Playoff Lenny”, agreed to re-sign with the Bucs on Friday for $3.25 million on a one-year deal. The value for running back signings declined during free agency, according to ESPN’s Jenna Laine, and Monday’s re-signing of James White with the New England Patriots didn’t hurt the Bucs’ chances of keeping Fournette. Joey Knight of the Tampa Bay Times reported on Monday that talks for Fournette and the Bucs hadn’t progressed.
Catch 22?
Tampa will return all 22 starters on offense and defense from the 2020 Super Bowl team with Fournette’s signing. Brown would add firepower to an offense projected to be Bucs quarterback Tom Brady’s best ever per Collin Cowherd of Fox Sports.
Brown only started four games late in the season, but the Bucs listed him as a second-stringer on the depth chart behind Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. The Bucs have added depth at receiver in Scotty Miller and Tyler Johnson.
If Brown goes to a different bay or coast for 2021, the defending champion Bucs still have plenty of firepower.