Bucs (Finally) Cut WR Antonio Brown; Ex NFL GM Says Cowboys Signing ‘Could Happen’
FRISCO - The cheap punchline here regarding the idea that troubled wide receiver Antonio Brown should be signed by the Dallas Cowboys isn't going to be an insensitive poke at Brown, who has mental and emotional issues that last Sunday caused his strip-down meltdown in the middle of a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game.
Nor is the cheap punchline some tired and cliched reference to the "Criminal Cowboys'' and all that hooey.
No, the cheap punchline is directed at the guy who says Dallas should sign Brown - Mike Tannenbaum, the former NFL general manager.
And that specific cheap punchline: "Yeah, Mike, that's why they call you 'the former NFL general manager.''
During an episode of Get Up on ESPN, Tannenbaum created in his mind a landing spot for AB.
“I could see a team like the Dallas Cowboys bringing him in and talking to him,” he said. “If they go through the process, they simply could sign him to a one-day contract … Putting in the infrastructure where he’s getting the help he needs, and then helping (the Cowboys) on the field.''
The thinking is flawed on virtually every level. To wit:
*We're not sure how a "one-day contract'' really works. That's a gimmick used for teams to re-sign end-of-career stars so they can "retire a Cowboy.'' That's surely not Brown's plan. Nor is a "one-day contract'' for any other reason.
*How - even without his challenges - does he "help the Cowboys on the field'' as the fourth receiver (now that Michael Gallup is out for the year) playing behind Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb and Cedrick Wilson? And maybe behind Malik Turner and others as well?
Stated Tannenbaum: “In this day and age of COVID and everyone looking at this from a week-to-week standpoint, you could simply say, ‘Hey, we’re gonna stand shoulder-to-shoulder, Antonio. And your NFL career, if there is one, is on life support.' ...
"It could happen.''
It really probably couldn't. And just as key: It shouldn't.
See, didn't the Steelers, Patriots, Raiders and Bucs - who watched him release odd social-media posts all week but waited until Thursday to cut him - already try all of that? At some point - and remember, because of his legal and behavioral issues, he played for all four of those learned-a-lesson teams all over the course of essentially one year - hasn't the NFL discovered that Brown isn't a "football player'' as much as he is a "person in need of care''?
There is media noise about Antonio Brown getting another chance. (And about Terrell Owens right there with him.) Most likely, that noise comes from Brown supporters, which is lovely. But - and we say this with a great deal of empathy as some understanding of mental-health challenges - anyone who truly wants to support Antonio Brown shouldn't be trying to get him signed with the Cowboys.
They should be trying to find him a doctor.
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