More drama: Raiders reportedly to suspend Antonio Brown after argument with GM
And you thought Antonio Brown would be ready to play, now that he found a new helmet.
Brown and the Oakland Raiders have been a disastrous relationship so far, and it’s not getting better. The team is planning to suspend Brown after he “got into it” with general manager Mike Mayock on Wednesday, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. According to Vic Tafur of The Athletic, Brown had to be held back by teammates.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network speculated the Raiders could look into going after Brown’s $30 million in guaranteed money. There was no announcement of a suspension, and Schefter reporting they are “planning” to suspend Brown theoretically leaves wiggle room. Brown was not at Thursday’s practice, Schefter said.
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The Raiders play the Denver Broncos on Monday night. It was expected to be a new-look team with superstar Brown as the centerpiece, but it has been one distraction after another for Oakland and its new receiver.
Mayock spoke to the media, issuing a short statement on Brown and not taking questions from the media.
“Short and sweet, Antonio Brown is not in the building today,” Mayock said. “He won’t be practicing, I don’t have any more information for you right now. When I have some, and it becomes appropriate, you guys will all get it, I promise you. But that’s it for today.”
Fine might have led to argument
The latest in Brown’s never-ending drama was him publicly complaining about a fine for skipping a team walkthrough. That fine was for almost $14,000, and the letter Brown posted said he had accrued another $40,000 in fines. Mayock signed the letter.
Of course, this isn’t the only incident that the Raiders have dealt with in regards to Brown.
To keep it short, the main issues with Brown came when he burned his feet in a cryotherapy incident, which kept him out at the start of training camp, and a long battle with the NFL over him not being allowed to wear a helmet that was banned for safety concerns. Then he skipped the walkthrough, got fined, complained about it on social media, and that led to the argument, according to Schefter. Rapoport reported the argument never got physical but Brown threatened to hit Mayock in the face, punted a ball and told Mayock to fine him for that.
And perhaps this will all lead to the Raiders going after Brown’s money.
The reality here is that the offseason drama is likely enough for the #Raiders to void the $29M of salary guarantee. They can also go after the $1M signing bonus based on missed practices, etc… meaning Antonio Brown could then be released with $0 dead cap.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) September 5, 2019
Everything about the Brown-Raiders marriage has been a mess.
Mike Mayock had words for Antonio Brown before
If you watched “Hard Knocks,” you probably saw the dynamic of Gruden playing good cop with Brown and Mayock being the bad cop. Gruden would joke with Brown and express support. Mayock, during one of Brown’s tantrums over the helmet issue, had a news conference to say it was time for Brown to be all in for the team.
There was no immediate word on how long Brown will be suspended, if he is at all, but it would set the Raiders offense back if he is out for the opener, especially after they have game-planned for the Broncos assuming Brown would play.
Brown has not even played a preseason game for the Raiders. It might be time to wonder if the relationship between player and team will ever be repaired.
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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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