AFC West Notes: Abram, James, Brown
Raiders first-round pick Jonathan Abram will seek a second opinion on his shoulder, Josina Anderson of ESPN tweets. The rookie apparently injured his shoulder on Monday night against the Broncos but continuing playing, showing no signs of injury during the game. Now, after undergoing exams, it appears Abram could land on injured reserve.
Here’s more from the AFC:
- RT Ja’Wuan James will miss some time with the knee injury he suffered but Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link) reports that it is not season-ending. James joined the Broncos this offseason.
- Coach Vic Fangio spoke about the Broncos difficulty in facing Chicago’s pass-rush this week, as Troy Rench of ABC7 in Denver relays (Twitter link). “We’ll give [our tackles] some help but there’s going to be times like in any game where they are going to have to stand up and block without any help,” the coach said.
- Broncos WR Tim Patrick suffered a clean break in his hand, Mike Klis of 9News Denver (Twitter link). Patrick’s timetable is 6-to-8 weeks and Denver is considering whether to place him on IR.
- Agent Drew Rosenhaus said there was no collusion with regard to Antonio Brown‘s exit from the Raiders. “There was no fix,” Rosenhaus said (h/t Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports). “We did try to make it work with the Raiders.”
Raiders’ Johnathan Abram Done For Year?
Raiders safety Johnathan Abram has suffered a serious shoulder injury, according to ESPN.com’s Josina Anderson (on Twitter). The torn rotator cuff combined with a torn labrum will likely a season ender, according to Vic Tafur of The Athletic. The Raiders are expected to place Abram on injured reserve, with no possibility of return. 
The Raiders used one of their three first-round picks to select Abram this year and installed him as a starting safety alongside Karl Joseph. The rookie was lauded for his tenacity throughout the offseason and his energy will be missed by the Raiders much as his production.
Even though he suffered his injury in the first quarter, Abram stayed on the field to play in 77% of the team’s snaps against the Broncos on Monday night.
“That’s the identity we’re trying to bring back: fast, physical and aggressive,” Abram said Monday night. “You come across the middle, we’re going to get you.”
The Raiders are expected to use Curtis Riley in Joseph’s absence with some help from Erik Harris. Tafur suggests that defensive coordinator Paul Guenther could also call up old friend George Iloka, a one-time Bengals standout who remains on the free agent market. In theory, the Raiders could also move nickel corner Lamarcus Joyner back to his native safety position to fill the void.
Antonio Brown Recorded Jon Gruden With Consent
It seems that Antonio Brown‘s pseudo-commerical – featuring sound bites of a phone conversation with Jon Gruden – was part of his social media campaign to push the Raiders for his release. It was speculated that Brown recorded Gruden without his consent, which would open the wide receiver up to legal consequences and NFL discipline. 
Apparently, that’s not the case. The producer of the video tells ESPN’s Dan LeBatard that Gruden approved the use of their conversation (Twitter link).
This would help to explain why Gruden reportedly thought the video was “awesome,” though Brown was released hours after its release. Apparently, this was not the straw that broke the camel’s back, probably because there were many other straws that infuriated the Raiders far more.
Brown, the newest member of the Patriots (somehow), has himself a one-year deal worth up to $15MM, plus a 2020 club option that could be worth $20MM. Here’s the Year One breakdown, per Rapoport (Twitter link): $9MM signing bonus ($5MM paid now, $4MM later), $1MM base pay, $500K in46-man roster bonuses, and “Not Likely To Be Earned” incentives of $1.5MM for each of the following: 105 catches, 1,298 yards, 16 TDs.
Given Brown’s ability and past production, those benchmarks are far from “not likely.” However, for cap purposes, they are designated as NLTBEs.
Raiders Sign WR Keelan Doss
Keelan Doss is headed back to Oakland after all. Doss became a breakout star on HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’, but was released by the Raiders at final cuts and ended up signing to the Jaguars’ practice squad.
When the Raiders cut Antonio Brown, they tried to sign Doss back. Jacksonville then agreed to pay him a rookie minimum salary while on the practice squad in order to keep him. But now the Raiders have upped their offer to something he simply couldn’t refuse, and Doss is signing back with the team, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (Twitter link). To lure him back, Oakland is giving Doss a whopping $300K signing bonus and $495K fully guaranteed base salary.
It’s a massive step-up for Doss. In just a couple of days, he went from making a non-guaranteed practice squad salary to getting $795K guaranteed. Giving a player a multi-hundred thousand dollar signing bonus to come off another team’s practice squad is nearly unprecedented, and shows how badly the Raiders wanted receiver help after Brown’s departure.
Doss is an undrafted rookie from UC Davis. A native of the Bay Area, he’ll be completing a homecoming that was widely documented on the popular HBO series. Doss shined at times during the preseason, and set school records for touchdowns and all-purpose yards.
Several Teams Had Interest In Antonio Brown
Several teams were interested in signing Antonio Brown prior to him agreeing to a deal with the Patriots, Chris Mortensen reports on ESPN. Mort lists the Seahawks and Browns among the teams that were eyeing the wide receiver. QB Russell Wilson worked out with Brown during the offseason.
As a vested veteran, Brown was not subjected to waivers, meaning he was able to sign anywhere he pleased once the Raiders released him. Here’s more on the Brown-saga:
- The Patriots attempted to trade for Brown back in March but the Steelers rebuffed those inquiries as they didn’t want to send him to a rival, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. New England was willing to give up picks for him then but now, after the signing him as a free agent, they were able to land Brown without surrendering compensation.
- According to Mortensen (above link), the Patriots were willing to give the Steelers a first-round pick for Brown during the offseason. Pittsburgh ultimately didn’t want to trade Brown to a place they would have to face him.
- Antonio Brown sought advice from social media consultants on how he could accelerate his release from the Raiders, per Mortensen (same link). Posting the letter from GM Mike Mayock that stated he would be fined was among the moves Brown made on social media leading up to his release.
- Brown could be suspended by the league office, as we passed along on Saturday. It was reported that the Raiders were considering suspending him prior to him finding his way to the free agent market.
Latest On Antonio Brown
One of the weirdest opening weeks in recent memory is starting to wind down, and a full slate of regular season games is right around the corner. Before that though, we have one more batch of notes on Antonio Brown. The All-Pro receiver is a member of the Patriots now, and there will surely be more fallout to come as the dust settles. Brown was on the open market for just a few hours before inking a one-year deal with New England, and the defending champions now have one of the best group of skill position players in the league.
Here’s the latest on the star of the 2019 offseason:
- First off we have more details on his new contract, courtesy of Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. It was initially reported that Brown’s deal would be worth “up to” $15MM, and include a $9MM signing bonus. Per Schefter, there’s only $1MM in guaranteed money besides the signing bonus. The other $5MM is incentives, he reports.
- The Raiders ultimately didn’t suspend Brown over his confrontation with GM Mike Mayock, and the Patriots obviously won’t be suspending him. That doesn’t mean he is out of the woods entirely though, as Brown could apparently be suspended by the league office for a Personal Conduct Policy violation. A league spokesman declined to comment on the matter, per Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com, who notes the policy specifically prohibits “[v]iolent or threatening behavior toward another employee or a third party in any workplace.” If the league finds that Brown threatened Mayock as some have reported, he could be slapped with a suspension.
- The Patriots raised a lot of eyebrows by giving Brown a $9MM signing bonus given his recent erratic behavior. Teams can usually recoup 25 percent of a signing bonus if something goes wrong, per Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports (Twitter link). La Canfora wonders whether the Patriots asked for different language in the contract to protect them further in the event that things go off the rails like they did in Oakland.
- The Raiders voided Brown’s guarantees before releasing him, and there have been rumblings that Brown might pursue a grievance to try to recoup some of that money. Even if his agent Drew Rosenhaus does pursue the grievance and it is successful, he won’t be getting all that money back. Brown’s deal with Oakland contained offset language, so “the $9 million signing bonus he’ll get from the Patriots — and any other money he earns as a player in 2019 and 2020 — reduces the amount he could pursue in a potential grievance over his voided guarantees,” Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets. As such, it doesn’t seem like the grievance will be very high-stakes, if it gets filed at all.
Jon Gruden Addresses Brown Release
One of the crazier sagas in modern NFL history concluded Saturday. The Raiders released Antonio Brown after voiding his guarantees, setting themselves up for another potential decision on Brown requiring an arbitrator. Jon Gruden addressed the decision, which came a day after he said Brown would play in Week 1 against the Broncos.
The Raiders’ top receivers going into Monday night’s game are now Tyrell Williams and J.J. Nelson. They drafted Hunter Renfrow and kept Ryan Grant over Gruden Hard Knocks favorite Keelan Doss.
- Drew Rosenhaus mentioned this Brown saga indeed could become a legal situation, regarding the released wideout’s $29MM-plus in guarantees, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). “We’ll do what’s best for Antonio. We will speak with the NFLPA,” Rosenhaus said, via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (Twitter link). While the Raiders no longer employ Brown, their part in this process does not look to be over. If Brown were to win a grievance, the Raiders could be tagged with $29.125MM in dead money, ex-GM Mike Tannenbaum tweets. The Steelers are already eating $21.12MM in 2019 dead cap charges.
- Interestingly, the Raiders tried to bring Doss back after releasing Brown. But the Jaguars moved to give the rookie UDFA a full veteran-minimum salary to keep him, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com reports (video link). Doss will become by far Jacksonville’s highest-paid practice squad player, making an active-roster minimum of $495K. The practice squad minimum is $8K per week.
Raiders Release WR Antonio Brown
And just like that, Antonio Brown‘s tenure with the Raiders has come to an end. The organization announced that they’ve released the star receiver. This comes hours after Brown requested his release from the team via Instagram.
Of course, the saga between these two sides is far from over. Brown effectively hasn’t seen a dime from the organization (Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com estimates that he earned a week’s salary), as the majority of his 2019 money was via a guaranteed $14.625MM base salary that was voided last night. As Mark Maske pointed out earlier today (on Twitter), Brown’s camp will likely fight both the team’s attempt to revoke the entire $29.1MM in guaranteed money and his $215K in fines.
As we noted earlier, the Raiders told Brown that he would “no longer will be entitled to termination pay” should he be released; former GM (and current ESPN employee) Mike Tannenbaum notes that the organization can’t “unilaterally take away a player’s right to termination pay” (which is a CBA perk for veteran players). On the flip side, the Raiders could pursue a “conduct detrimental claim” to recoup the money. That’s when things get tricky; the organization would then be dependent on the ruling of an arbitrator. If Brown’s behavior isn’t deemed to be detrimental, then the Raiders would have sacrificed more than $30MM and a pair of draft picks for zero production.
Brown has been a constant source of drama throughout his brief tenure in Oakland. Following frostbitten feet and a helmet dispute, it all seemed to culminate this week when the receiver berated general manager Mike Mayock after being fined for missing practices. The organization was then reportedly set to suspended the wideout, although the two sides seemingly made up, Brown was simply fined, and reports indicated that he’d play in Week 1. Then, last night, Brown was officially slapped with those fines, which then voided his guarantees. As a result, the 31-year-old requested his release this morning, and according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, Brown is attributing his discontent to the team’s apparent lack of respect.
“Told me do not come in Thursday. Bad my name,” Brown told Rapoport (Twitter link). “Then come work, give two papers after the press conference. No guaranteed no way.”
For the Raiders, the drama has seemingly ended for the time being. As Fitzgerald tweets, the move should open up around $28MM in cap space this season (pending any grievances). Meanwhile, the team will now have clarity on their receiver depth chart heading into Week 1. As of right now, Tyrell Williams and JJ Nelson are listed as Derek Carr‘s top targets.
Considering his status as a veteran, Brown isn’t subject to waivers, tweets NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. ESPN’s Field Yates tweets that the receiver is free to sign with a new team at 4:01 PM EST today, although he won’t be eligible to play for a new team tomorrow. Agent Drew Rosenhaus indicated that he’ll immediately start looking for a new home for his client.
“Now that Antonio is a free agent, we are focused on the future and I will immediately work on signing him to a new team,” Rosenhaus said (via ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Twitter). “Antonio is looking forward to a new beginning.”
The agent also provided some insight into Brown’s failed stint with the Raiders.
“It’s been well-documented that it’s been a rocky road from the beginning,” Rosenhaus told Rapoport. “Unfortunately, not all relationships between players & teams work out. … Everybody had the best intentions going in but it didn’t pan out.”
Raiders Void Antonio Brown’s Guarantees, WR Asks For Release
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.
Latest On Antonio Brown, Raiders
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.