Antonio Brown Trying to Get Cut? One Host Says It’s One Way of Explaining His Behavior

Antonio Brown has been uncharacteristically quiet on social media following his meeting with the Steelers last week.

On Tuesday, Andrew Fillipponi of CBS Sports and 93.7 The Fan offered a theory to Brown’s recent silence after he spent nearly a month lashing out at the Steelers on social media, Bryan Deardo of 247 Sports reports.

“He was trying to get cut,” an NFL agent told Fillipponi. “It had [Drew] Rosenhaus finger prints all over it. AB was following the T.O. script. It didn’t work. Now he waits for a trade.”

The agent was alluding to Hall of Fame receiver Terrell Owens, who was also a client of Rosenhaus, who essentially forced his way out of Philadelphia after things with himself and the Eagles’ organization went south in 2005. After a glorious first season in Philadelphia in 2004 that included a trip to Super Bowl XXXIX, Owens’ honeymoon in the City of Brotherly Love ended a year after after he and then Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb continued to quarrel both on the field, in the locker room and through the media. The Eagles eventually decided to inactive Owens for the second half of the season, then releasing them during the 2005 offseason. Owens then signed a multiyear deal with the Cowboys before Dallas decided sever ties with him following the 2008 season.

Brown’s recent social media tirades included public criticism of Mike Tomlin and Ben Roethlisberger. He also said, during a nine-minute Instagram video that also showed him working out on an elliptical, that he wants to receive guaranteed money from his next employer. Brown has no more guaranteed money on the $68 million contract extension he signed in February of 2017. Brown has three years remaining on his current contract.

It would make sense for Brown to want to be cut as opposed to being traded. By being released by the Steelers, Brown would be in full control of his career in terms of which team he would sign with next. Brown and his agent, Rosenhaus, could also negotiate a new contract that would certainly include a slew of guaranteed money. Instead, Brown will have have to be patient while the Steelers look to find the right offer for Brown, the NFL’s leading receiver since the start of the 2011 season.