2019 AB Watch: Legal & Exemption List Posts Only

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Super Nomario

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The needle they need to thread is keeping him off KC while recouping his cap hit only if it helps them this year. In the end Kraft’s millions are irrelevant to us. But I’d still say keeping him off KC offsets the material hit they take with this debacle.
The other thing that's shared in the snipped of contract Breer shares is that there are contract offsets. So at least if Brown signs with KC (or whoever), anything they pay him comes out of what the Pats do.

FWIW, I would probably rather the Chiefs add another receiver than defensive help.
 

ngruz25

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Lol no attorney in their right mind would advise a client to do something like this. He might as well have asked “Would you like to be disbarred?”
What about anything involving AB would lead you to believe that anyone in his orbit is in "their right mind"? It seems reasonable to inquire as to whether AB's bizarre group text, which included his lawyer, was done with that lawyer's consent.

And given that the question elicited a noteworthy response that answers questions that people had about the original story, it seems it was a good one.
 

Van Everyman

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Is AB a litmus test for BBtL posters' morality scale?
Ha -- putting all that aside, from the Pats standpoint, I think this is a tougher call than it may appear at first. There seems to be at least a reasonable case, at least for now, that people are coming out of the woodwork to shake AB down. These reports run the gamut in terms of severity -- from the Taylor accusations to "Brown farted in my face." All of them may be true. And it could be that Brown himself is acting out in a way that is bringing all these stories to the fore.

But the timing of all of them inside of, like, a two week span def. puts a unique spin on them. If any of these cases are proven to be extortion of some kind, I think it significantly weakens the others -- and my guess is that AB's team is probably trying to do just that.

In the meantime, the Pats are caught in between, I think -- too much smoke to ignore, but not enough actual evidence to cut bait. But where most teams would really struggle with this situation, this one has the on-field talent and coaching strength to probably ride it out.
 

BaseballJones

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Oct 1, 2015
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I think one solution is to keep playing AB, get as much out of him as you can, and understand that soon Watson and then Harry will be returning in case you have to cut bait with Brown.

I am curious as to how much time and energy BB, TB, and the rest of the team expend on dealing with all this. It might be a lot less than we think. Or it might be a lot more.
 

TheMoralBully

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Oct 10, 2005
157
AB absolutely fails my own personal morality test, but I cannot imagine watching football if I let that play into my enjoyment of it all. We know the league is littered with scumbag players, scumbag owners and is in general a miserable cesspool. I still love watching football so I've made that disconnect. It's completely understandable if people don't want to do the same, but there's going to be dozens of AB situations in the league in the next few years, and chances are one or two will be on the Patriot's.

Still, if Brown sent those texts it shows he's a special kind of idiot, and none of this is going away anytime soon. I don't think he's going to be with the team much longer.
 

NDame616

will bailey
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Jul 31, 2006
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Breer has alluded to many times that he thinks the Pats signed AB just as much to help us as to keep him off the Chiefs.

Maybe Kraft/BB asks the league to put him on the exempt list so we don't have to cut him, he's not on the team, but not on the Chiefs
 

SeoulSoxFan

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AB absolutely fails my own personal morality test, but I cannot imagine watching football if I let that play into my enjoyment of it all. We know the league is littered with scumbag players, scumbag owners and is in general a miserable cesspool. I still love watching football so I've made that disconnect. It's completely understandable if people don't want to do the same, but there's going to be dozens of AB situations in the league in the next few years, and chances are one or two will be on the Patriot's.

Still, if Brown sent those texts it shows he's a special kind of idiot, and none of this is going away anytime soon. I don't think he's going to be with the team much longer.
I find your username oddly ironic & appropriate at the same time.

In addition, my guess is BB & Kraft will make a decision right before when the 1st signing bonus is due (unless bigger bombshells fall).
 

dcmissle

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Tony Dungy would drive him there himself.
Yes. The only question is whether they add Trent Williams before or after.

(No, I am not taking at face value Andy’s statement that he is confident in Eric Fisher’s replacement.$
 

allstonite

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The thing that makes this different for me is it's the first incident since his "fresh start" on the Patriots. His antics on the Steelers and the Raiders I could pass off as a guy unhappy with his situation trying to force his way out. The allegations were from the past and we weren't sure of all the facts so I could say let the process play out.

This is a guy given a second shot who doesn't know to put his head down and keep a low profile. He just can't stop making himself a story and it's going to continue every week. It's not completely about morality. It's that I don't like rooting for the guy at all and don't think he's worth the trouble. Rip the band-aid off during Jets week and get past the media blowback before our schedule picks up
 

Mystic Merlin

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The thing that makes this different for me is it's the first incident since his "fresh start" on the Patriots. His antics on the Steelers and the Raiders I could pass off as a guy unhappy with his situation trying to force his way out. The allegations were from the past and we weren't sure of all the facts so I could say let the process play out.

This is a guy given a second shot who doesn't know to put his head down and keep a low profile. He just can't stop making himself a story and it's going to continue every week. It's not completely about morality. It's that I don't like rooting for the guy at all and don't think he's worth the trouble. Rip the band-aid off during Jets week and get past the media blowback before our schedule picks up
I don’t even know about this. Is there any reason to believe personal conduct is affected by whether you play football for the Steelers, Raiders, or Patriots?
 

allstonite

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I don’t even know about this. Is there any reason to believe personal conduct is affected by whether you play football for the Steelers, Raiders, or Patriots?
No I hated the signing from the moment it happened (but did enjoy the freakout from 31 other fanbases in the moment.) But I could squint with my Patriots colored glasses excuse his act as someone wanting to get out and now that he was on a team with championship aspirations would be a model citizen. This latest from Wednesday proves he can't do that and there's a good chance it continues throughout the season.
 

bsj

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The thing that makes this different for me is it's the first incident since his "fresh start" on the Patriots. His antics on the Steelers and the Raiders I could pass off as a guy unhappy with his situation trying to force his way out. The allegations were from the past and we weren't sure of all the facts so I could say let the process play out.

This is a guy given a second shot who doesn't know to put his head down and keep a low profile. He just can't stop making himself a story and it's going to continue every week. It's not completely about morality. It's that I don't like rooting for the guy at all and don't think he's worth the trouble. Rip the band-aid off during Jets week and get past the media blowback before our schedule picks up
Exactly. This is why i have hit my tipping point. Ive seen 6 Super Bowls. I'm not desperate enough for a 7th to have this jackass on the roster. Even up until yesterday I was gritting my teeth and saying let the investigation play out. But this is new and its since he's been in Patriot blue.
 

JCizzle

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Ha -- putting all that aside, from the Pats standpoint, I think this is a tougher call than it may appear at first. There seems to be at least a reasonable case, at least for now, that people are coming out of the woodwork to shake AB down. These reports run the gamut in terms of severity -- from the Taylor accusations to "Brown farted in my face." All of them may be true. And it could be that Brown himself is acting out in a way that is bringing all these stories to the fore.

But the timing of all of them inside of, like, a two week span def. puts a unique spin on them. If any of these cases are proven to be extortion of some kind, I think it significantly weakens the others -- and my guess is that AB's team is probably trying to do just that.

In the meantime, the Pats are caught in between, I think -- too much smoke to ignore, but not enough actual evidence to cut bait. But where most teams would really struggle with this situation, this one has the on-field talent and coaching strength to probably ride it out.
The guy has a history of not paying his debts, the majority of these situations seem to be brought on by himself. If the guy owed me hundreds or thousands of dollars, I'd gladly add to the frenzy. They are under no obligation to do him any favors since he stiffed them in the first place.
 

jsinger121

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Bill with another quick press conference walked off the podium again. Under 4 minutes.
 

BaseballJones

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Bill with another quick press conference walked off the podium again. Under 4 minutes.
I wonder if he secretly loves AB for this. As in, it gives him a good reason to get out of those press conferences really quickly. This is now the second time this has happened. "Look, I'm not answering any questions about Antonio." Followed by nothing but questions about Antonio. Then he simply leaves.

He's probably laughing to himself.


(probably not in reality, but I imagine this to be the case)
 

jsinger121

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I wonder if he secretly loves AB for this. As in, it gives him a good reason to get out of those press conferences really quickly. This is now the second time this has happened. "Look, I'm not answering any questions about Antonio." Followed by nothing but questions about Antonio. Then he simply leaves.

He's probably laughing to himself.


(probably not in reality, but I imagine this to be the case)
BB doesn't care. He cares only about winning and will keep AB on the team because he will help them win.
 

TheoShmeo

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It’s hard to know with Bill but if the Pats are spending time on the recent AB stuff, I think there is some chance those who want him gone will get their wish. Bill could have said that they’ll wait for the legal process to conclude or the NFL to finish its investigation. That he didn’t suggests to me that they are troubled and could act.

Then again, that could have been just lip service.
 

loshjott

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Mike Reiss


Bill Belichick provides his “state of the Patriots” address at the start of his Friday news conference, and then briefly touches on Antonio Brown. He confirms Brown is still on the roster.

Love Reiss' dry humor here.
 

InstaFace

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This entire episode illustrates why, was I the NFL leadership, I’d RUN to the table to negotiate away much of the scope of my quasi-law enforcement power with respect to players. They’re not equipped to deal with this shit, yet they’ve made themselves a legitimate tool for private disputes between players and, on the other side, individuals outside of the league’s reach.
This is a wise post and deserves more attention.

Leaving aside the issue from this morning, it's certainly conceivable that there are Britney Taylor-like situations out there where someone sees a rich NFL player as a bag of money they can manipulate, and knows that, besides the usual tools of the legal system to do so, they also have leverage to pressure that person through their work. And that's because the NFL can (A) deprive them of their non-guaranteed paycheck at any time, (B) is very PR-sensitive, and (C) has a history of being arbitrary and capricious with taking people's livelihoods away in this fashion while ruining their reputation, sometimes deserved and sometimes not.

If I were an unscrupulous groupie or attorney advising one, making a big case in the press such that the league felt pressure to investigate and then exempt or suspend, whether or not the facts were on my side, would be a smart play at this point. The NFL can't want that to be true (and we know that the NFLPA was prepared to literally make a federal case out of it).
 

Harry Hooper

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Bedard's morning note:
If the Patriots do release Brown, I don’t expect it to happen before Bill Belichick‘s 11:15 a.m. press conference. The Patriots’ style would be to do it after, so Belichick doesn’t have to talk about it until after the game on Sunday.



put Cousin Arthur on loop

 

Andrew Dice-K

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Nov 15, 2006
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I tend to lurk rather than post but I’m finding the AB situation compelling from a mental health perspective. I have no idea whether he has any kind of personality disorder nor do I think it appropriate to speculate about someone else’s mental health in this forum. However I’ve been puzzling with the hypothetical that AB is indeed struggling with a mental health disorder that is in full flare at the moment. If he is, how should he be treated?

From where I stand, what the Pats are doing with Gordon is as commendable as what the league did with him for years is deplorable. The guy has an obvious substance abuse problem and it shouldn’t be treated, and not vilified, as such. If AB has a mental health issue - and this is absolutely in no way to excuse his behaviors, plenty of which have themselves been deplorable - I think we should accord him the same sympathy for his struggles that many of us (most of us?) do Gordon. Again, doesn’t excuse his behavior and ideally he would have a treatment team in place helping him and recognize it when he’s in need of help.
 

InstaFace

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That’s a real question he asked? “Did you advise your client to write these texts?”

Goaded him into saying something, I suppose...
Yeah, one way you can tell he's not up to this sort of situation or publicity is that he (A) willingly spoke to a reporter, and (B) answered, to some degree of substance, a question from that reporter after basically being taunted.

Maybe AB likes him because they both share a similar level of self-control.
 

TheoShmeo

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Well I would like to know what they plan on doing with both their best TE on the roster and only FB seemingly out for this one. The AB only questions made any chance of finding out about that nil. Then again, it’s not like Bill would have revealed much there.
 

8slim

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I know I'm not pushing the discussion forward with this post, so I apologize, but I want him gone now. Sending that text is simply unacceptable. Even if that situation is totally made up, you don't try to intimidate someone using their children, period.
 

NomarsFool

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Obviously the first text was addressed to her, but I'm really curious if the further texts she was "cc'd" actually by mistake.
 

stp

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Could the Patriots be waiting (and hoping) the league finds AB in violation of the Personal Contract Policy so they can cut him and recoup the money that counts against the cap? Or is that not how it works?
 

DJnVa

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I don't think the league will rule him in violation of the PCP unilaterally, letting team completely off hook.
 

djbayko

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It seems reasonable people can disagree. It’s certainly terrible judgement to be contacting any accusers, or really doing anything at all besides putting his head down and going to work while letting the league disciplinary and legal processes play out. But saying he made threats using her children seems like a real stretch to me.
 
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