Antonio Brown has said he would like to play with Tom Brady next season. However, Buccaneers HC Bruce Arians made it clear in an interview with Tiki Barber and Brandon Tierney that “it’s not gonna happen.”
“Yea, it’s not gonna happen. There’s no room. It’s just not gonna happen. It’s just not a fit here. I just know him and it’s not a fit in our locker room,” Arians said. “…I just know him and it’s not a fit in our locker room.”
Prior reports had said that Brown ending up with the Buccaneers was unlikely, so this shouldn’t come as a big surprise. However, should at the very least put an end to any further speculation about him signing with Tampa Bay.
It’s interesting to hear Arians completely dismiss the idea, considering that he worked with Brown several years ago while they were together in Pittsburgh.
Despite his off-the-field issues, Brady has been a vocal supporter of Brown dating back to when the Patriots elected to sign him following his release from the Raiders.
Brown is currently without an agent and there are multiple pending legal matters involving him. Beyond that, Brown is likely to be subject to discipline from the NFL once everything is settled, so it would be surprising to see a team sign him to a contract before then.
Brown has offered a series of apologies in recent months to the NFL and his former teammates.
“I think I owe the whole NFL an apology and my past behavior,” Brown told ESPN’s Josina Anderson a few weeks ago. “I think I could have done a lot of things better.”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said previously that their No. 1 concern is Brown’s well-being and not his potential return to the league.
“I was pleased to hear that after 140 days that there was some positivity about me because as of late I’ve just been the cancer of the NFL,” Brown said regarding Goodell’s comments. “The problem child, the guy who gets in trouble, the kind of guy who has the bad narrative about him.”
The Saints worked Brown out during the season, but have shown no interest in signing him to a contract.
Brown, 31, is a former sixth-round pick of the Steelers back in 2010. He was in the third year of his five-year, $72.71 million contract when the Steelers traded him to the Raiders back in March.
The Raiders later signed Brown to a new contract worth $50.125 million and includes $30.125 million guaranteed. However, Oakland made the decision to release Brown before the start of the season and he later signed a one-year deal worth up to $15 million with the Patriots.
Brown lasted just 11 days in New England.
In 2019, Brown appeared in one game for the Patriots and caught four passes for 56 yards receiving and one touchdown.
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