Pro Football Rumors

If you can possibly believe it, the Antonio Brown saga has taken yet another turn this AM. The Raiders wide receiver just posted a lengthy Instagram post that ended with him asking for his “release” from the organization (via Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com on Twitter).

“I have worked my whole life to prove that the system is blind to see talent like mines,” Brown wrote. “Now that everyone sees it, they want me to conform to that same system that has failed me all those years. “I’m not mad at anyone. I’m just asking for the freedom to prove them all wrong.” Release me @raiders.”

ESPN’s Adam Schefter provides a bit of context (via Twitter), noting that Brown was fined $215K last night for “conduct detrimental to the team” (stemming from an incident earlier this week). Thanks to the fine, the Raiders voided the more than $29MM worth of guaranteed money on the receiver’s contract. Schefter adds that the Raiders also sent Brown a letter stating that he “no longer will be entitled to termination pay” should he be released.

Meanwhile, ESPN’s Jeff Darlington tweets that he received an email from Brown this morning, with the wideout lamenting that the organization “took away my guarantees.” The receiver added that there’s “no way I play after they took that and made my contract week to week.”

Even with the financial context, “release me” could still be up for interpretation, potentially providing the player and organization with one more out. Considering Brown’s erratic behavior throughout the offseason, one could argue that Brown was asking the organization to ‘let him be himself.’ On the flip side, after days of reports that the Raiders could look to void the receiver’s guarantees before ultimately releasing him, perhaps Antonio could have opted for a better word. Considering the twists and turns of this ordeal, either explanation wouldn’t be all that surprising.

Last night, Brown remained on track to suit up for the Raiders’ Week 1 game against the Broncos on Monday night in Oakland. This revelation followed a confrontation with Mike Mayock, an incident for which Brown was fined (not suspended). Then, last night, Brown shared a video that revealed his private conversation with head coach Jon Gruden.

The Raiders’ one-man content machine continues to produce headlines, with the latest Antonio Brown news coming from a Brown social media post (video link). Brown may or may not have recorded Jon Gruden without his permission, sharing an edited video that appears to reveal a conversation between the wide receiver and his head coach.

In the video, a person sounding quite a bit like Gruden is heard saying, “Please stop this s*** and play football.” The video also shows Gruden calling Brown the “most misunderstood f***** human being in my entire life that I’ve ever met.”

Instead of being put off by this, Gruden — per ESPN.com’s Chris Mortensen (on Twitter) — was “amused” by this video and thought it was “awesome.” So there’s that. California’s two-party consent law makes it illegal to record conversations without both parties’ consent.

It is not certain when this conversation took place, and Brown’s video does not reveal the entire conversation. If it occurred after Brown’s confrontation with Mike Mayock — for which the Raiders have fined him but not suspended him — that would be quite the development. Gruden has backed Brown at every turn, despite the latter’s rampant unavailability and tumultuous Oakland tenure thus far. The Raiders made the decision not to suspend Brown earlier today.

Brown remains on track to suit up for the Raiders’ Week 1 game against the Broncos on Monday night in Oakland.

While the Raiders made the interesting decision to green-light Antonio Brown for Week 1, they did follow through on fining him for the incident many wondered would lead to his Oakland exit.

The Raiders fined Brown “an unspecified amount” for his Wednesday incident with Mike Mayock, Ed Werder of ESPN.com tweets. Brown’s confrontation with Mayock included the receiver allegedly threatening to punch the first-year GM, calling him a “cracker” and punting a football across a practice field.

Although Brown also allegedly uttered the phrase “fine me for that” after punting the ball, Werder adds the mercurial wideout is “not happy” he’s been fined. The reasoning for this fine was described to Werder as “unprofessional behavior.”

Despite surprisingly dodging a suspension for this, Brown does not appear to be out of the woods. The Raiders are operating under the premise they can still void Brown’s $30MM-plus in guarantees, with Ian Rapoport of NFL.com noting (video link) high-ranking NFL officials believe the Raiders will have a case to go after Brown’s guarantees because of his practice absences and unknown whereabouts at various points since joining the team. We heard Thursday night a suspension would not need to occur for the Raiders to void Brown’s guarantees, so this remains a fluid situation.

Brown issued an apology to his team on Friday, but given the unrelenting drama that’s followed him since the incident prior to Week 17 of last season, it is hard to imagine things go smoothly between Brown and the Raiders from here. A Raiders official also informed ESPN.com’s Dianna Russini the team is basically “day to day” with Brown at this point (Twitter link). Nevertheless, the 31-year-old superstar is expected to be on the field for the Raiders’ season opener against the Broncos.