The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have now officially retained wide receiver Antonio Brown, as the seven-time Pro Bowler put pen to paper on his new one-year deal on Tuesday, the team announced. Brown's new contract is reportedly worth up to $6.25 million with $3.1 million fully guaranteed, but was previously put on hold due to a pending physical.
The Buccaneers had always maintained they were interested in bringing Brown back, but earlier this month, he underwent minor arthroscopic knee surgery. The team decided to put the new deal on hold until he could pass a physical.
"He has to pass the physical," Bucs head coach Bruce Arians told The Pewter Report earlier this month. "Hopefully we'll have a scope on Tuesday. He's getting his knee cleaned out, and everything will work out fine. It's just a matter of a physical."
After dramatic exits from both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Las Vegas Raiders -- and then a one-game stint with the New England Patriots -- it appears Brown has found a home in Tampa. In eight regular-season games with the Buccaneers last season, he caught 45 passes for 483 yards and four touchdowns. Brown also caught three passes for 59 yards and a touchdown in Tampa Bay's first two postseason games, but missed the NFC Championship game due to the aforementioned knee issue. Still, Brown returned for Super Bowl LV, and caught five passes for 22 yards and a touchdown in the 31-9 victory.
The Buccaneers clearly have thoughts about running it back in 2021, as they found a way to retain all 22 Super Bowl starters. Not just that, but Arians doesn't appear to have retirement on his mind, and the Buccaneers were able to keep both of their coordinators as well.
