Antonio Brown Gets Cut by Patriots and Social Media Erupts

Antonio Brown is once again a free agent. On Friday afternoon, the Patriots decided to released the veteran wide receiver amid the recent allegations against him. Before the start of the 2019 season, Brown signed a one-year, $15 million contract with the Patriots after being released by the Oakland Raiders. Now Brown waits what the NFL has to say about his situation as they continue their investigation on him.

The news on Brown isn’t surprising considering what he has done the last month. But then again, this all started at the beginning of the year when he was asked to be traded from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Brown only played in one game in New England and he caught four passes for 56 yards and one score.

As for joining another team, teams know how talented he is, but based on what he has done the last few months, it’s more likely he takes the year off and comes back in 2020.

Scroll down to see the top reactions to Brown being cut by the Patriots.

Antonio Brown Responds

Now that Brown is a free agent, he can spend even more time on social media. One of the tweets Brown shared once he was released was a photo of hip-hop artist Nipsey Hussle with the quote, “Sometimes people try to destroy you precisely because they recognize your power; Not because they don’t see it, but because they see it and they don’t want to exist.”

Statement from the Patriots

Once the Patriots made the move, they released a statement, New England said, “The New England Patriots are releasing Antonio Brown. We appreciate the hard work of many people over the past 11 days, but we feel that it is best to move in a different direction at this time.”

Brown’s Agent Responds

Drew Rosenhaus, Brown’s agent, released his own statement when he heard the news. He said, “It’s unfortunate things didn’t work out with the Patriots. But Antonio is healthy and is looking forward to his next opportunity in the NFL. He wants to play the game he loves and he hopes to play for another team soon.”

Losing Money

Field Yates of ESPN, took a look at the money Brown could be losing. He said, “If Antonio Brown does not wind up receiving his $9M signing bonus from the Patriots (the first $5M was due to be paid on Monday), he will go from a $30M guarantee in March to $9M guaranteed to just $158,333 made for 2019.”

Interested Team

Jay Glazer of Fox Sports took a look at the teams who could sign Brown. He said, “There were only a couple teams who showed interest in Antonio Brown before he signed with Pats, that list will probably be whittled down to zero for the foreseeable future.”

No Pressure For NFL

Adam Schefter of ESPN believes now the NFL can take its time on investigating Brown. He said, “NFL now can conduct its investigation of Antonio Brown without any time pressure. It’s hard to imagine another team would attempt to get in the way of that. So Brown’s NFL career is on pause and possibly could even be over.”

Blame Antonio Brown

NFL Reporter Dov Kleiman believes Brown is the only reason he got cut from the Pats. He said, “Antonio Brown is the reason Antonio Brown has been on and off 3 teams in one year. He lasted one off-season with the Raiders, 11 days on the Patriots. It was said the Patriots wouldn’t have signed him if they knew about his off the field issues, now they cut him before game 2.”

Money Collected So Far

Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network took a look at how much Brown has earned this year. He said, “Other league execs think it’s a weak forfeiture case. Regardless, AB has earned two $62,500 game checks plus a $33,333 46-man bonus, and the rest of his $1M base salary was guaranteed (another possible fight). And a potential grievance awaits vs. Raiders over voided guarantees.”

Good For Brown

Kevin Boilard of 247Sports believes this move is good for Brown because he can focus on himself instead of football. And based on what has happened the last few months, Boilard is probably right. Brown has a lot of talent and if he can get his personal life together, he could come back stronger than ever in 2020. 

Brown to the XFL

But before he can make an NFL comeback, how wild would it be to see Brown in the XFL? The new professional football league that starts in 2020 needs big stars and Brown would be the face of the organization. But that only happens if he can get his life together. But even if Brown can’t do that, it’s likely league founder Vince McMahon will still give him a call.