Antonio Brown rumors: Tom Brady drives WR’s deal with Buccaneers

The prospect of an elite passing game is so irresistible to NFL teams that the pharmacy store-sized receipt of transgressions wide receiver Antonio Brown has rung up in his career is immaterial to them.

Brown was booted from Pittsburgh, Oakland and New England in a single year as a result of conduct detrimental to his teams and serious off-field allegations. That didn’t stop him from being a hot commodity this week in a whirlwind of negotiations that has reportedly culminated in him signing with the Buccaneers.

The Buccaneers convinced him to visit Florida on Friday after the Seahawks showed interest earlier this week. They’ve now agreed to the framework of a deal that would pair him with Tom Brady.

Brown will be eligible to play after Week 8. He is serving a league suspension for an incident with the driver of a moving truck outside his South Florida home, and he faces separate sexual assault allegations.

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Players inferior to Brown have been run out of the NFL for causing far less trouble. What sets the Central Michigan product apart is his on-field production, which is undeniably above what almost any other pass catcher has managed over the past decade.

Brown has amassed more than 11,000 receiving yards in a touch over nine seasons (he played one game in his 10th campaign last year) and has hauled in 75 touchdown catches. If his locker room and off-field incidents hadn’t minimized his playing time since 2018, he would be on pace to easily finish his career in the top 10 in receiving yardage. He might get there anyway.

MORE: Arians said in March that Brown wasn’t a fit in Tampa

The Buccaneers are already loaded with premier targets for Brady, who played with Brown briefly last season. But there’s rarely too much when it comes to NFL passing attacks, at least from the perspective of front offices. That’s the case even when the pursuit of a player requires overlooking years of poor behavior.