Tom Brady has seemingly maintained a close relationship with Antonio Brown since the star receiver’s brief tenure with the New England Patriots last year, and there has been a lot of talk about Brady wanting to play with Brown again in 2020. At least one well-connected member of the NFL community believes that could still happen.
Former longtime NFL executive Michael Lombardi, who now works for The Athletic and hosts a podcast, indicated on “The Pat McAfee Show” Tuesday that he feels there is a strong chance the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will sign Brown.
OH WOWWWWW@mlombardiNFL alludes HEAVILY that the @Buccaneers are going to sign @AB84
You think AB ends up a Buc this season? pic.twitter.com/e2Xhw3XA40
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 30, 2020
Brown and Bucs head coach Bruce Arians worked together when Arians was the offensive coordinator with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Arians referred to A.B. as a “diva” last year and said Brown is no longer the same person the Steelers drafted, and Brown blasted Arians in response. That’s one of many reasons there have been reports that there is no way Tampa Bay will sign the seven-time Pro Bowler. Brown, of course, has made it clear that he would love to sign with the Bucs.
Brown is still awaiting word from the NFL on a possible suspension following an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct from two different women. Since those allegations came to light, Brown was charged with burglary with battery after he and his trainer, Glenn Holt, allegedly attacked a moving truck driver. Brown recently pleaded no contest to a charge in that incident and avoided jail time.
If all of that wasn’t enough to give NFL teams pause, Brown also streamed a live video on Instagram back in January that showed him berating police officers in front of his children.
Should the NFL announce a suspension for Brown that doesn’t last the entire 2020 season, we have already heard of some other teams that might be interested in him. His history with Arians makes a reunion with Brady seem unlikely, but the Bucs would become even more dangerous if they added Brown to the mix.
