The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a decision to make about Antonio Brown.
Brown is amid a suspension for supplying the NFL with a fake COVID-19 vaccination card. It remains to be seen if the veteran wide receiver plays another game for the Bucs, who reportedly could release him as a result of his latest slipup. After all, Tampa Bay head coach Bruce Arians in October of last year said if Brown “screws up one time, he’s gone.”
Should the reigning Super Bowl champions choose to cut Brown, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer believes the decision wouldn’t sit well with Tom Brady.
“My guess is Brady would be upset if Brown gets released,” Breer wrote in his latest Monday Morning Quarterback column. “And that makes a call that’ll have to come a complicated one for the Bucs, who could get Brown (and safety Mike Edwards) back for their Dec. 26 game in Carolina. Remember, when Arians brought Brown in, he publicly declared that the embattled receiver was in Tampa on a zero-tolerance basis. Now, that was last year, and obviously Brown’s banked some sweat equity with Arians and his staff since.
“Still, what Brown did was more than screw up. He was busted amid allegations that he and two teammates (Edwards and the since-jettisoned John Franklin III) had fake vaccination cards from remote Citrus County, around an hour and a half away. That is a federal offense and a staggering breach of trust (taking the Bucs at their word, that they didn’t know) with a coaching staff that’s one of the NFL’s oldest, and has members who’ve had health issues. All of which puts Arians and GM Jason Licht in a tough spot. Either they draw their line in the sand here and risk Brady’s ire. Or they just grit their teeth and manage Brown through the end of the year and playoffs, in the name of chasing a championship, which has basically been their mandate since No. 12 got there.”
Quite frankly, Brown sticking around in Tampa would be a bad look for both Arians and Brady. The head coach would be going back on his word, and the quarterback likely will be accused of once again vouching for a person who doesn’t really deserve more chances.
