Patriots are going to pay big bucks for their arrogant misdeeds in signing Antonio Brown

… NFLPA pledges support, hurts unions for real workers

In their arrogant quest to push the envelope to the extremes, Coach Bill Bellichick of the New England Patriots and owner Robert Kraft have demonstrated that they will do anything to win. Spygate, Deflate-gate and other shady deals will forever stain the legacy of that franchise.

A prime example of how this is finally coming back to hurt them in the pocket book — as well as again diminishing their reputations — is the Antonio Brown saga.

They figured that Brown, a sleazy but very talented player, could lead them to the promised land this year.

Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports outlined what happened and how it is going to hurt them despite their hopes to recoup some of the money that Antonio Brown has cost them.

And Robinson explained in the story that if they had just held back on Brown after learning about the latest charges of sexual assault against a Central Michigan friend, they might have been able to escape from this with minimal damage.

The Patriots cut Brown after they investigated the incidents, but they should have known what kind of player he was because of his actions with the Oakland Raiders and previously the Pittsburgh Steelers.

But, according to Robinson, Kraft opened up his checkbook with a huge signing bonus, and from all indications, while Brown may have to litigate this, he will probably win,

A little over two weeks ago, the New England Patriots inexplicably dug themselves a financial hole by agreeing to give Antonio Brown a $9 million signing bonus. Now team owner Robert Kraft must pay his way out of it.

That’s the consensus of five league sources who spoke to Yahoo Sports this week — each familiar with Brown’s now-voided Patriots deal and all having extensive experience with the overlap between NFL contracts and the league’s collective-bargaining agreement. The group universally expressed the belief that New England’s payout to Brown will likely happen deep into the 2020 calendar, after an exhaustive arbitration grievance that could ultimately reveal what Brown and his agents knew about a threatened sexual assault civil lawsuit prior to signing with the Patriots.

One key takeaway was heavily underscored by the group: The Patriots cut Brown before he triggered any signing bonus void as described in the CBA. And that will end up being the foundational and winning point of a forthcoming grievance from Brown and the NFL Players Association.

As one source put it, “[New England] fighting to keep that signing bonus now is either a gross misunderstanding of [the CBA’s] rules on voiding signing bonuses or it’s just out of spite. I can’t believe they don’t understand the signing bonus voids in the CBA. There’s just no way. This is just spitefulness. They’re fighting [Brown] completely out of the anger and embarrassment in ownership.”

“Patriots failed in their contract with Antonio Brown and 

Bob Kraft will end up paying him $9M more,” Sept. 26, 2019

Patriots should never have touched Brown

After some of the antics that Brown has pulled over the past few years, the Pats should have known that the former Steelers’ wideout was a problem. Bellichick thinks that he can handle all kinds of behavior problems. He will cite Randy Moss as an example of someone who was very difficult for most coaches to handle, yet played well for Bellichick.

However, the fact is that Brown is an ego-centric person in a team sport and the antithesis of what Bellichick has tried to use in NE. What the veteran coach has done so well is take good or average athletes and make them outstanding because they are playing on a great team. He does not have to draft great players.

An example of this is Tom Brady, a sixth-round pick out of Michigan. Brown was also like that, a sixth-round pick out of Central Michigan who worked very hard to accomplish what he has over the past few years. He had six consecutive 1,000 yard receiving seasons with the Steelers.

No one expected either to reach the heights that they did.

The difference is that Brady has not had major character issues to distract him. Brown obviously has.

What Bellichick should have recognized was that behavior like broadcasting Coach Mike Tomlin’s post-game talk to his team after a playoff win over Kansas City a few years ago should have been a read flag. Tomlin said some nasty things about the Patriots in that talk, and it was supposed to be private.

Yet, he got away with that. And the Pats should have recognized that problem for what it was. Disrespect.

And the Pats should have realized the import of Brown’s actions while a member of the Raiders.

They missed the signals — big time — or chose to ignore them because they are so much better than everyone else.

Patriots blew it by playing Brown against the Dolphins

Robinson notes that New England might have been able to avoid that by not playing him after learning about the seriousness of the charges against him for sexual assault … and learning of the text messages that supported her contentions.

According to the writer’s research,

Interestingly, sources who spoke with Yahoo say New England had one arguable contract “out” when it came to Brown and surrendered it: that he and his representation didn’t make the team aware of his civil suit. Essentially, the Patriots could have used that withholding of information as a means to void his entire deal. But New England negated any claim to that by playing Brown against the Miami Dolphins after the lawsuit was filed in federal court.

“If they had cut [Brown] as soon as they became aware of the civil suit, then there’s the argument of the [withholding] breach undermining the entire agreement,” one source told Yahoo Sports. “But they kept him on the roster after that lawsuit was filed. They played him in a game. They even paid him checks for [two weeks of] work. If the civil suit was a true dealbreaker, the Patriots could have shown it by breaking the deal. Their actions speak to their intent and their intent was shown when they continued to pay him after the civil suit.”

Robinson, Yahoo Sports

How bright is their front office?

Did the Patriots really believe that Brown could provide them with an ingredient that they lacked that could win another Super Bowl?

Of course

That is reflected in the kind of contract that they offered him. Robinson’s sources explained how this could have been structured, but the Patriots did not do that,

Interestingly, sources who spoke with Yahoo say New England had one arguable contract “out” when it came to Brown and surrendered it: that he and his representation didn’t make the team aware of his civil suit. Essentially, the Patriots could have used that withholding of information as a means to void his entire deal. But New England negated any claim to that by playing Brown against the Miami Dolphins after the lawsuit was filed in federal court.



“If they had cut [Brown] as soon as they became aware of the civil suit, then there’s the argument of the [withholding] breach undermining the entire agreement,” one source told Yahoo Sports. “But they kept him on the roster after that lawsuit was filed. They played him in a game. They even paid him checks for [two weeks of] work. If the civil suit was a true dealbreaker, the Patriots could have shown it by breaking the deal. Their actions speak to their intent and their intent was shown when they continued to pay him after the civil suit.”

Robinson, Yahoo Sports

Brown hopes to recoup more than just the signing bonus

According to ESPN, Brown wants to recoup some of the money that he lost when he was cut by the Oakland Raiders,

Brown is the first player in NFL history poised to file nine grievances and appeals during the same period of time, league sources tell ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Brown lost out on $30 million in guaranteed money when the Oakland Raiders cut him Sept. 7. A source told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler that Brown is working on filing a grievance to try to recoup that money.

Among items under consideration: three fines levied by the team, his unpaid Week 1 salary, his base salaries of $14.625 million and $14.5 million for 2019 and 2020, and a $1 million signing bonus as part of his three year, $54 million deal signed in March.
This is what gives unions a bad name.

Conclusion
I wish that I could feel sorry for the Patriots. I hate to see A.B. benefit from this, but that is what is going to transpire.

What I also hate to see if a player’s union protecting Brown. Unions were vital for the common working man in getting them rights and money, but unions protecting multi-millionaires is an aberration.

However, a contract is a contract, and the Pats signed a lousy one. In that instance, the union will enforce it as much for a guy making 80,000 bucks as one making 30 million.

And this time, the Patriots’ arrogance is going to bite them in the pocket book. That is something that I will enjoy … even if A.B. profits from it.

In reality, it may be used to pay off the woman in the sexual assault case anyway. That would be sweet justice.