Antonio Brown Says Raiders Voided His Guaranteed Money and 'There's No Way I Play' Now
By Sam Dunn
As Dr. Stephen Strange said, "we're in the endgame now."
Around the time Antonio Brown tossed up a startling Saturday Instagram post in which he both asked for his release from the Oakland Raiders and leveled a number of conspiratorial accusations against the structure of the NFL, he also apparently fired off an email to ESPN's Jeff Darlington. And it's a window into the man's increasingly bizarre thought process as everything comes tumbling down around him.
I just got an email from Antonio Brown. He tells me the team “took away my guarantees.” He added there’s “no way I play after they took that and made my contract week to week.” So at this moment, once again, don’t expect AB to play on Monday Night Football.
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) September 7, 2019
Well, there you have it. To hear AB tell it himself, the Raiders are canceling $29 million in guaranteed money in his contract on the grounds that he has committed conduct detrimental to the team.
The #Raiders also say the conduct detrimental fine voids the guarantees in his contract. AB got a sizable raise from the #Raiders upon the trade from Pittsburgh, but they haven't paid him yet. Most of 2019 compensation is in a $14.625M base salary that's now in jeopardy.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 7, 2019
So far, he's been fined over $200,000 by the team without even playing a single game. Does that sound detrimental enough? And this doesn't even touch his blow-up with GM Mike Mayock or the phone call he recorded with head coach Jon Gruden only to release it as a sort of bizarro short film.
In all: Antonio Brown screamed at Mike Mayock, punted a ball and yelled “fine me for that.” And they did, more than $215K, plus voiding all his guarantees of $30M. AB asked for his release, knowing he’s entitled to $0. And the team hasn’t responded. Two days until game day.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 7, 2019
This is almost certainly the end of the line for No. 84 in the Bay Area, right? In his IG post, he insisted that he won't play if all that guaranteed money is swept away.