Antonio Brown and Tom Brady seem to have remained on a friendly basis since their brief pairing early last season on the New England Patriots. Brady reportedly even expressed that he wanted to team with AB in 2020.
Their seemingly positive relationship, coupled with Bruce Arians’ history coaching Brown, has led to some speculation that AB could also sign in Tampa Bay. But we’re not so convinced yet.
Last year, Arians expressed on “The Adam Schefter Podcast” how much Brown had changed. Arians was the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive coordinator from 2007-2011 — the latter two years when Brown was also there.
“There’s too much miscommunication, too much … diva,” Arians said of Brown. “I’ve heard so many stories — I like Antonio — he plays as hard as anybody on Sunday, and he practices hard. He’s just gotta make better decisions off the field, be on time, do some of those little things.”
Brown of course hit back at Arians via Twitter.
He didn’t draft me he drafted @ESanders_10 same guy who missed rehab to go on networks to talk about me on situation he have zero clue! Arians now wears kangoo hats n glasses but ima diva! Done seen it all then they say we friends stop lien https://t.co/jALXyhQMAw
— AB (@AB84) January 16, 2019
Arians knows what kind of “diva” Brown can be and might not want him in the locker room.
Beyond that, the Bucs already have Mike Evans and Chris Godwin at wide receiver. That position probably isn’t high on their list for areas they need to address.
Could this still happen? Sure, anything is possible, but for these reasons — not to mention we don’t even know Brown’s status with the NFL — we don’t see it as likely.
