Antonio Brown was not on the free agent market very long, expectedly. Just hours after being released by the Oakland Raiders after what became quite the soap opera, Brown has agreed to a one-year deal with the New England Patriots, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Antonio Brown and the Patriots reached agreement on a 1-year deal worth up $15 million that includes a $9 million signing bonus, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 7, 2019
As Schefter notes, the deal is worth $15 million with a $9 million signing bonus. He’s now set to make about $375,000 more this season than he was scheduled to in Oakland, as his base salary with the Raiders for 2019 was going to be $14.625 million.
Even with the talent, it was all but likely that Brown was going to have to settle for a one-year, “prove-it” type deal, which is exactly what this is. But he is still going to be paid very handsomely for it. His $15 million salary for this season ties him with Cincinnati Bengals’ wide receiver A.J. Green for No. 11 among wide receivers.
Brown will not be eligible to play in New England’s season-opener Sunday night against his former team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was not on the Patriots’ (or any team’s, for that matter) roster by 4:00 P.M. EST. Even if he was eligible, the chances of him playing would have been tough anyway with just one day to get up to speed with the Patriots’ offense. He should be good to go Week 2 when the Patriots travel to Miami to take on the Dolphins.
Brown now joins a Patriots’ wide receiver group that is loaded with talent and veteran experience. Along with Antonio Brown, the Patriots have Julian Edelman, Josh Gordon and Demaryius Thomas, along with Phillip Dorsett and rising rookie Jakobi Meyers. The Patriots haven’t had a wide-receiver group this talented, arguably, since their near-undefeated season and run to Super Bowl XLII.
In a few short months, the Patriots went from having question marks at the wide receiver position to having a surplus of talent and having players on the bench that would easily be starters on many other teams. The Patriots’ offense has become must-see TV.