Other than the fact that he’s now going to play on Monday night, there was maybe more significance to the Raiders decision to not suspend Antonio Brown.
Had the Raiders chosen to suspend Brown, they would have had the option of going after his $14.6 million salary this year. Now, according to ProFootballTalk, Brown should get the full amount. If true, that means the Raiders might be inclined to be patient with Brown for a little while longer. If they’re locked in to paying him, the team may as well have him on the field.
But, for what it’s worth, Brown might not be in the clear if he acts out again.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Friday evening that the Raiders can still go after Brown’s guaranteed money, but it sounds like the process might not be quite as certain.
“From what I’m told talking to a couple high-ranking league officials, the Raiders do have some reason to believe that if they wanted to go after his guaranteed money, they actually could,” Rapoport reported on Friday. “Because of the fact that he’s missed practice, because of the fact that there were times in training camp that they did not know where he was and he was not with the team, those things allow the Raiders to go after his guaranteed money.”
Ian Rapoport on Twitter
From @NFLTotalAccess: Summing up a surreal day in Oakland, with #Raiders WR Antonio Brown now set to play on Monday night following his apology. https://t.co/6Ir5vhJS3X
Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see how sincere AB’s apology turns out to be. Certainly the issues that have plagued him aren’t going to disappear overnight and now that he is a little closer to getting more than $14 million from the Raiders, will AB have the same motivation to stick with his apologetic attitude?
That’s the three-year, $50 million question right now.
twitter: @raidersbeat
