Although Antonio Brown has apparently decided that he doesn't want to play football anymore, it sounds like he could have a few options if he does decide to continue his career.
Brown's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, told ESPN.com on Saturday that there are a "few teams" still interested Brown despite his recent troubles. However, Rosenhaus did admit that the each of those teams wants to see Brown's legal situation plays out before they actually signed him. Rosenhaus didn't name any of the teams that might be looking to sign Brown.
The NFL is currently investigating all accusations made against Brown and although the league has yet to punish him, it did warn on Friday that Brown could be placed on the commissioner's exempt list if he gets signed.
"If he is signed by a club, such placement may become appropriate at any time depending on the status of the investigation," the NFL said in a statement.
The reason the threat of the commissioner's exempt list could deter a team from signing him is because it means the team would have to pay him, but he wouldn't be allowed to play. The NFL hasn't given a timetable for when the Brown investigation is expected to be complete.
Of course, even if the investigation ends up working out in Brown's favor and a team DOES want to add him, there's no guarantee that he'll end up signing a contract. The receiver shot out a tweet on Sunday morning saying that he's not ever going to play in the NFL again due to the fact that NFL owners can just "void guarantees" any time, which he doesn't think is fair to players.
Will not be playing in the @NFL anymore these owners can cancel deals do whatever they want at anytime we will see if the @NFLPA hold them accountable sad they can just void guarantees anytime going on 40m 2 months will see if they pay up !
— AB (@AB84) September 22, 2019
That tweet was sent as part of a Twitter tirade on Sunday morning, where Brown took shots at multiple people, including Ben Roethlisberger, Shannon Sharpe and Robert Kraft.
In the tweet directed at the Patriots owner, Brown insinuated that Kraft's case from earlier this year was actually worse than his, since Brown's case is only based on accusations. Kraft was charged with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting another to commit prostitution on Feb. 22 in a case that's still open.
The tweet aimed at Kraft could potentially end up costing Brown $10 million due to a clause that was in his contract when he signed with the Patriots. The contract states that Brown's guarantees will become "null and void" if he "takes any action that materially undermines the public's respect for, or is materially critical of, the Club, the Player's teammates or the Club's ownership, coaches."
According to ESPN.com, the receiver will be filing a grievance against the Patriots in hopes of recovering the $10 million in guaranteed money that he was supposed to be getting in his contract, but at this point, it's anyone's guess at who will win.
If Brown wins his grievance, he'll walk away from New England with just over $10 million. However, if he loses the grievance, he'll be paid somewhere between $150,000 and $250,000 for his 11 days in New England. Not only did Brown earn two game checks worth $62,500 each, plus a one-game roster bonus of $33,333, but Brown could also earn another $125,000 thanks to the termination pay provision in the CBA, which calls for him to be paid at least 25 percent of his base salary of $1.03 million, according to Pro Football Talk.
