We are now almost a week into NFL free agency. Many players have signed, but some still remain without a team. Despite quitting on his team last season, Antonio Brown wants to continue his career. What are our latest predictions on whether a team will sign Brown, and who that might be?
Top predictions for free agent Antonio Brown
After the way Brown walked out on the Bucs in the middle of a game, you would think his career is over. But that’s just not how it works in the NFL. If a player is still good at football, he will get a second, third, fourth chance. That’s Antonio Brown.
Even at 34 years old, AB is still one of the best receivers in football. I truly believe that. As a result, if he wants to play this season, someone is going to sign him. Which teams would make sense for Brown?
Cleveland Browns
In the absence of anything concrete, we look to whatever we can for indicators. After the Browns acquired Deshaun Watson, Brown tweeted out “Cleveland Antonio Browns. C-A-B.”
While a tweet from AB doesn’t mean he’s going to Cleveland, we can take it as him being interested in the Browns.
From a personnel standpoint, it makes a lot of sense, too. The Browns released Jarvis Landry following their trade for Amari Cooper. Their top two wide receivers behind Cooper are Donovan Peoples-Jones and Anthony Schwartz.
The Browns also clearly don’t have an aversion to players with baggage, for lack of a better term. In addition, they have a ton of salary cap space. Making Brown a Brown would be a good fit.
Arizona Cardinals
At this point, we’re just looking for teams that have a need at wide receiver. The Cardinals certainly qualify.
After losing Christian Kirk to the Jaguars, the Cardinals are perilously thin behind DeAndre Hopkins. With A.J. Green remaining unsigned, it’s Rondale Moore and Antoine Wesley. Not exactly the most terrifying group.
Brown would fit in well with Kyler Murray in Kliff Kingsbury’s offense. To be fair, he’d fit in well just about anywhere.
The Cardinals don’t have a ton of cap space, but they have about $2 million. That’s enough to manipulate the cap hit and sign AB. I can’t imagine him getting more than a one-year deal for around $3-5 million given the circus he brings with him.
Atlanta Falcons
I will be honest, it was difficult to find a third team. Not because there aren’t teams out there in need of a wide receiver — there are just lots of teams I don’t see him playing for.
The Falcons, however, desperately need a wide receiver. Calvin Ridley is suspended for the season. Russell Gage is on the Bucs. They brought back Cordarrelle Patterson, but he was pretty much just a running back by the end of last season. The Falcons simply cannot enter the 2022 season with Olamide Zaccheaus as their WR1 (or WR2, when they draft a rookie).
We know Antonio Brown is all about Antonio Brown. He wants his targets. He wants to be the guy. Atlanta can’t really offer him a Super Bowl run, but they can offer him volume.
The Falcons have about $5 million in salary cap space. Like the Cardinals, they can give AB a one-year, $3-5 million deal. At the very least, he can put fans in the stands while they figure out their rebuild.