Report: Why Buccaneers Waited Multiple Days to Release Antonio Brown

The Buccaneers released Antonio Brown earlier this week just days after taking off his pads and leaving the team mid-game on Sunday, but it was not as immediate as fans expected. 

Coach Bruce Arians said his press conference on Sunday, “He is no longer a Buc, alright? That’s the end of the story.” However, the wide receiver was not released until four days later, leaving many wondering why. 

According to NFL Network, Tampa Bay wanted Brown to get mental health treatment and therapy. Brown went on to target Tom Brady, Arians and Brady’s trainer, Alex Guerrero, in a number of social media posts, and he was subsequently released on Thursday. 

Two different stories have come from the respective camps about what exactly led to that moment on Sunday.

Arians claimed during his Thursday press conference that Brown was upset he wasn't being targeted enough during the game. The wide receiver was close to reaching a number of contract incentives that could have paid out $1 million in total.

Brown, via his attorney Sean Burstyn, accused the team on Wednesday of executing an “ongoing cover-up” of the fact that he was effectively cut during the game. Brown said that he relented when pressured by a coach to play with an ankle injury, and was injected with what he describes as a “powerful and sometimes dangerous painkiller.” When the pain became too much and limited his performance, the wide receiver said he exited the game and sat on the sideline, where he claims he was admonished by a coach to return to the field.

”Imagine the guy who you think has your back, who you flew here with to do a mission, and they know your situation, and you get there and you're battling with them, then he tells you that because you can't go to war with him, he tells you to get the f--- out of there?” Brown said on the Full Send Podcast, which was released on Friday. “I'm an alpha male. If you discriminate on my public image and my name, at that point it's f--- you too professionally.”

Brown said the two of them exchanged text messages where Arians acknowledged the injury.

"Antonio Brown never faked an injury in his life. It is incredible that people are pushing false rumors that what happened Sunday was the result of mental health issues and not a well known ankle injury," Burstyn, wrote in a Twitter thread of his own. "Mental health is important, but so is basic dignity."

• All Bucs: Bruce Arians Offers His Story on Antonio Brown Debacle

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