Antonio Brown gave up $30 million in guarantees with the Oakland Raiders to sign with the New England Patriots on Saturday.
Brown was due $1 million in bonuses from the Raiders but lost his initial payments due to fines from the team and a failure to participate in 85 percent of workouts. He was due to make about $14.5 million in 2019 and 2020 with Oakland.
So how did he make out in New England? The details regarding his contract with the Patriots have been released, and they show the signing bonus, guaranteed money and incentive benchmarks he has.
According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, Brown has a $1 million fully guaranteed base salary, $500K in roster bonuses, and a $9 million signing bonus split over two payments.
#Patriots deal with Antonio Brown: $1M fully guaranteed base, $9M signing bonus ($5M now, $4M later), $500K in 46-man roster bonuses & NLTBE incentives of $1.5M for each of these — 105 catches, 1,298 yds, 16 TDs. Total: $15M. Plus a $20M option that’s guaranteed if picked up
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 9, 2019
Brown will receive $1.5 million for reaching the following marks in the season:
– 105 catches
– 1,298 receiving yards
– 16 touchdowns
That brings the total value he could possibly earn to $15 million. He could reach those incentives, but it would have to take a season slightly better than what he produced in 15 games last year with Pittsburgh. Brown had 104 catches, 1,297 yards and 15 touchdowns with the Steelers last year.
Brown will likely end up making less money this season than he would have with the Raiders, but he’ll be in a preferable spot. Also, one key element here is the timing of the signing bonus payments. If things go south between Brown and the Patriots, would they be able to move on without paying him one or both of the bonuses? That all depends on when the bonus payments are scheduled to be made.
Brown also has a $20 million team option the Patriots could exercise for 2020. Do you think the relationship will work out well enough where the Patriots end up picking up Brown’s 2020 option?
