Antonio Brown has finally gotten what he wanted. All over again.
In September 2019, he agitated for his release from the Raiders, and he got it. Today, after spending much of the past 18 hours trying to secure his release from the Buccaneers, he has it.
The Buccaneers have announced that Brown’s contract has been terminated, effective immediately.
The statement from the team includes a contention that Brown was cleared to play in Sunday’s game against the Jets, despite an ankle injury. The team also asserts that “at no point during the game did he indicate to our medical personnel that he could not play.”
The Buccaneers also claim that they have tried, on multiple occasions this week, to “schedule an evaluation by an outside orthopedic specialist, yet Antonio has not complied.”
The Buccaneers are releasing Brown without any special designation, despite a four-day delay that supposedly arose from their efforts to select the proper label to apply.
He’ll now pass through waivers. If unclaimed, he’ll become a free agent. And that’s where things will get interesting. Although he claimed as of Wednesday night that he needs surgery, will he decide to delay it and play through the injury, if another team wants him?
That will require another team to want him. On the same day he finally got his release from the Raiders, the Patriots swooped in and signed him. Even with the ugliness that has emerged in recent hours, talent drives this bus — and Super Bowl rings are far permanent than whatever short-term dysfunction Brown can cause.