On Friday, the NFL announced that WR Antonio Brown would be suspended for the first eight games of the 2020 season, due to multiple violations of the NFL’s personal conduct policy. He would be allowed to participate in training camp with whatever team signs him. This comes a short time after he took to social media and demanded that he have his punishment be made known to him. To be fair, the NFL did seem to drag their feet when it came to figuring out his punishment. It could be because he was a free agent and their were no teams interested and they put it on the back burner, that’s one thing I can think of but who knows what really goes on there. Now that teams know what they have to deal with from an availability perspective, there should be some interest in the free agent WR. Here are the top five teams that I think could benefit from signing him:
Balitimore Ravens- Why not? Jackson and Brown have done some workouts together during the off-season, the WR group is probably the weakest position group on the team, and Harbaugh has already said he wants to throw the ball down the field more this year. The Ravens went out and drafted two WRs in this years draft, Hollywood Brown, Miles Boykin and Willie Snead are the top options at receiver currently. A lot of what they do is predicated by running the ball and throwing in the middle of the field utilizing the TE. You add Antonio Brown he becomes the first option in passing game for Jackson. This is one of the teams I can legitimately see signing Brown.
Green Bay Packers- With Devin Funchess opting out of the season, the Packers are now siting with Adams being their only proven receiver. They have a group of young guys who still have a lot to prove, with the addition of Brown he would easily be the number two option behind Adams. This also could mend the relationship between Rodgers and the front office, by not drafting a young receiver it caused a rift in the fan base and took Rodgers by surprise. It was apparent last year that Packers needed a trustworthy second passing option, especially when Adams went down, Brown could be the guy to help with the second half of the season and a playoff run.
LA Rams- Brandin Cooks and Todd Gurley are gone, they still Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods. If they can get Brown to help replace some of the offense that they lost over the off-season, it could be enough to for a late season playoff push. Brown with Kupp and Woods would be in the conversation for top 5 WR group in the league, if not number one. McVay is considered an offensive genius, if anyone can find a way to best utilize Brown’s talents it’s him.
Philadelphia Eagles- If there is one thing that the Eagles needed to add this off-season it’s at the WR position. It would actually work out pretty good for them, at the end of last year Wentz had mainly back-ups and practice squad guys to throw to. Alshon Jeffery is currently on the PUP list to start training camp and Marquise Goodwin opting out of the season only leaves DeSean Jackson and first round pick Jalen Raegor as the top targets in camp. Inserting Brown into the equation would definitely give the Eagles more talent but he is a guy that has not missed many games due to injury, and the Eagles need guys who can stay on the field.
Seattle Seahawks- Pete Carroll has already expressed interest in bringing Brown in. Russell Wilson has already done some workouts with him this off-season. So it seems like a good fit, in my opinion he would be the number one option in front of Metcalf and Lockett. This is also a team that loves to run the ball, top 5 in the league in running percentage, so I would be worried how much they would use him. Could adding Brown to the passing game be enough to get Carroll to start passing more? Maybe, when it gets late in the year and you have close games you would want to put the ball in Wilson’s hands right?
All but the Rams were playoff teams last year, I think it would be wise for teams who have a legitimate playoff shot to go after Brown this year. With the new playoff system this year a team that could be on the fringe of a wildcard would really benefit from him coming in fresh for the second half of their schedule.
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