If you thought Antonio Brown's curious desire to wear an unsafe helmet was the last of the drama surrounding him this year, guess again. The Raiders are apparently planning to suspend Brown after a dust-up with GM Mike Mayock. Length isn't yet clear -- but it might just be really long.
This tweet from Adam Schefter is of particular concern. He reports the Raiders may be considering suspending him intending to void the guaranteed money in his contract. So, not just a game or two suspension, but essentially one that takes him out of Oakland for good.
That one's pretty dire, and it's just speculation. Maybe the Raiders suspend him for the opener, Antonio Brown profusely apologizes, and it all gets swept under the rug. But that doesn't seem particularly likely. Does anyone have a quote of Brown apologizing for something at any point?
This was prompted by the Raiders fining Brown for missing practices. Brown expressed his displeasure by posting a picture of the letter outlining the fines. Maybe he expected to engender some sympathy? Who knows. All of us who have or have had jobs understand that publicly calling out one's employer isn't usually a great idea.
So Brown's not going to play in Week 1, it seems, and there's at least some chance he won't be playing for a while, certainly not in Oakland.
If I'm walking into a draft tonight, Brown's off my draft board, or at least way down it to the point I simply don't end up with him at all. There's risk and then there's toxicity. This seems like the latter.
If I drafted Brown and wanted to trade him, arguably the sooner the better -- his value to me at this point seems more likely to decrease sharply than anything else. I'd put him on the trade block and hope somebody else has a more optimistic view of him playing in Week 2 or 3 or 4 than I do.
Should things end badly for Brown in Oakland (my current lean), Tyrell Williams becomes the No. 1 wideout. He was down around 45 at wide receiver in the last Cheat Sheet Update. I think now he's up in the low 30s -- around guys like Emmanuel Sanders and Sterling Shepard, that general range. The other guys who move up a space are Hunter Renfrow and J.J. Nelson. Those guys, though, I'll pass on. Seems more likely the Raiders bring in another veteran, should they move on from Brown, then start pumping passes into J.J. Nelson. Michael Floyd, Kelvin Benjamin, Jordan Matthews -- those are the type of guys available.
Forced to choose, I'd nominate Renfrow, the team's fifth-rounder, as a candidate for an increased role. But I wouldn't cut anyone actually valuable to take a flier on him. Maybe once you get outside the top 50-55 wideouts.
I suppose this could be viewed as a positive for Darren Waller or Josh Jacobs -- more targets in the passing game if Brown isn't around. But I think is more likely to be an overall negative for the offense; fewer yards and touchdowns, total, and harder for those guys to find room to work.
Losing Brown would be a negative for Derek Carr, but where he's ranked I can't imagine rostering him anywhere but 2 quarterback leagues. He falls some, but if you've got to start 2 quarterbacks in a 12-team league, it's possible you'll need him at some point even if we bump him down from 25 (last Update) to 29 (ahead of guys likely to get benched like Manning and Mariota).
We'll see what happens as the story moves along, but right now Brown is hands off to me in drafts, and if I had him, I'd be looking for a respectable trade offer.
--Andy Richardson