A little over a week into NFL free agency (including the legal tampering period), most players have signed. Unsurprisingly, Antonio Brown has not. Brown’s unceremonious exit from Tampa Bay last season should end his Hall of Fame (on-field) career, but he wants to keep playing. What are our latest predictions on whether a team will sign Brown, and who that might be?
Top predictions for free agent Antonio Brown
If a player is a headache that comes with a ton of off-the-field issues, it’s frustrating for NFL owners. However, teams are far more willing to put those things aside if the player is good at football. Brown is good at football.
I’m usually the first one to point out when a wide receiver reaches age 32/33 as a signal of decline. For Brown, even at 34 years old, I don’t see it. When focused and playing, the man is still one of the best receivers in the game.
Brown will likely remain available for quite some time. I don’t see him signing until later in the offseason. But if he wants to play, someone will sign him. Which teams might be interested?
Cleveland Browns
There hasn’t been much in the way of reporting on teams linked to Brown. As a result, we use what we can.
After the Browns acquired Deshaun Watson, Brown tweeted out “Cleveland Antonio Browns. C-A-B.” Clearly, he’s interested in linking up with Watson in Cleveland.
From a personnel standpoint, this is a good fit. The Browns released Jarvis Landry following their trade for Amari Cooper. Although there are reports the Browns may re-sign him, doing so should not preclude them from pursuing AB. Their top two wide receivers behind Cooper are Donovan Peoples-Jones and Anthony Schwartz. Brown as their WR2 pushing Landry to the slot is perfectly fine if it comes to that.
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
Beyond the Browns, we’re purely guessing here. The Cardinals are a reasonable landing spot because they provide Brown with the two things he wants: targets and the potential to win.
After losing Christian Kirk to the Jaguars, the Cardinals are dangerously thin behind DeAndre Hopkins. With A.J. Green remaining unsigned, it’s Rondale Moore and Antoine Wesley. They can and will do better.
Brown’s skill set fits Kyler Murray and Kliff Kingsbury’s offense. To be fair, his elite skill set is good for any quarterback.
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.
Green Bay Packers
Sticking with the theme of Brown wanting to be a featured receiver and potentially win, why not Green Bay? Their wide receiver situation is worse than Arizona’s following Davante Adams’ departure to Las Vegas.
With Allen Lazard and Amari Rodgers as the presumptive top two receivers, the Packers need to do better. Brown would immediately be the best receiver on the team. And hey, maybe he can be a distraction from Aaron Rodgers being a distraction. Fight fire with fire. Something like that.
The Packers have somehow managed to create $13 million in salary cap space. I don’t see anyone giving AB more than a one-year deal, and the Packers are well-equipped to do so. An incentive-laden contract starting at around $5 million is a reasonable starting point here.