It's apparently the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' turn to fire back at Antonio Brown.
As the Bucs prepare for a Week 18 finale and an opportunity to defend their Super Bowl title in the playoffs, they also find themselves in a public relations showdown with Brown, whose contract they terminated effective immediately Thursday.
The firing was a formal follow-up to an unofficial decision by head coach Bruce Arians, who said Brown was no longer a part of the team after the wideout refused to reenter a Week 17 game against the New York Jets. The wideout left his jersey and shoulder pads on the sideline before running off the field in the middle of the game.
Brown and his representation fired shots at the Bucs on Wednesday night, saying Arians and the club were negligent in handling his ankle injury. Tampa Bay pushed back with a formal statement in which they claimed he was cleared to play and didn't indicate during the game he was too injured to play.
In addition to the statement, Bucs general manager Jason Licht told ESPN's Adam Schefter there was some conflict over Brown's contract. The wideout had $2 million in incentives remaining on his contract, and according to Licht (per Schefter), Brown asked for that to be guaranteed, and Tampa Bay denied the request.
NFL Media's Ian Rapoport on Thursday provided a report somewhat in lockstep with Schefter's, saying on "The Pat McAfee Show" that Brown wanted $1 million in potential bonus money guaranteed. The Bucs denied his request, and Brown did not practice the next two days, citing his ankle injury.
Of course, if Brown were angry about not getting that money guaranteed, it certainly could have lingered into last week's game. Furthermore, Schefter also claimed, per sources, Brown was upset at halftime about a perceived lack of targets.
Those targets would be pretty crucial for someone chasing statistic-based incentives, which could also help explain the eventual outburst. The other side of that, though, is one way to reach those incentives is to actually play, especially given how shorthanded the Bucs are at the receiver position right now.
Instead, Brown threw his tantrum, ending his time with the Bucs. Tampa Bay proved it could win without him, against the Jets anyway, coming from behind to win at MetLife Stadium.
We'll learn starting next week whether Tom Brady and Co. can go on another deep playoff run, but we do know for sure Brown won't be involved, as this situation continues to get uglier.
