The AB Raiders saga is over. AB arrived in Oakland with a contract guaranteeing him $30 million, and he’s leaving with $0, not even his “signing bonus.”
You might ask how does this happen, it’s worth another article, but this is reason #1,249 why the NFLPA is the worst union in all of professional sports… (a lack of actual guaranteed monies and contractual language that highly favors the team)
A short AB in Oakland timeline might be helpful…
In July, he was placed on the non-football injury list for a foot injury.
In August, he missed several practices in training camp due to his helmet grievances.
On Wednesday, September 4th, he was fined for missing practices and had a heated confrontation with General Manager Mike Mayock where he allegedly called him a “cracker.” (Ummm, yeah)
Cue Adam Schefter…
AB let sources know that he refused to play in Oakland since his once guaranteed money was no longer guaranteed, and asked for a release the next day…. via Instagram, of course. He also secretly recorded a conversation he had with Head Coach John Gruden, and then released a mini video with audio clips of the coach essentially trying to have a heart-to-heart talk with him where he basically asked him to stop doing this, whatever this is.
So upon his request the Raiders released him, and within hours the New England Patriots signed him to a 1-year deal worth $15 million with $9 million guaranteed. Yeah… despite his tumultuous exit from Pittsburgh, his short and rocky time in Oakland, he’s now a New England Patriot, who were already picked to return to the Super Bowl. With the addition of AB, it’s hard to think they won’t return with all the talent Brady now has on the outside.
Is that fair? Probably not. But what does that say about AB and the NFL?
AB has a lot of issues, clearly… whether he’s selfish, conceited, the money has gone to his head, mental health issues, or maybe he just doesn’t want to play football anymore and loves the attention, who knows, but something is going on. Whatever it is, we know the NFL is still willing to deal with it because at any moment this 5’9-185 lbs wide receiver can change the game in the blink of an eye. Based on his numbers alone, you can make the argument that he’s arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL. And maybe that’s why the NFL is the only employer in the world, with the exception of other professional sports leagues, who will put up with such behavior and conduct detrimental to their organization and reputation, just because he gives them a greater chance to win, and win it all.
Mike Tomlin, the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, was trending on Twitter over the weekend… people were praising him for essentially controlling AB for all those years and somehow managing a locker room of 53 guys and still finding a way to contend for a championship every year. If that’s true, including many of AB’s former teammate Ryan Clark’s recent comments in which he’s criticized AB’s selfish behavior, then Tomlin probably does deserve some slack and an award or two for holding it together for as long as he did.
Will his antics stop in New England? Probably long enough for him to collect a few big checks. If that’s before or after they hoist the Lombardi trophy for winning Super Bowl LIV (54) in Miami Gardens on February 2, 2020… only AB knows.
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No risk here for New England. If he performs, they likely win the Super Bowl. If he continues to act out, they cut him and they lose very little in the grand scheme of things, A winning culture where is ISN’T the focus of everyone’s attention might help. That being said i get the sense that some of this was an intentional decision to try and move on from Oakland. Probably a lot more to this story than we know.