Not that way back, it appeared the sky was the restrict for Antonio Brown. He was a celebrity on the sector, a seven-time Professional Bowler (2011, 2013-2018), and essentially the most feared extensive receiver within the NFL with a Tremendous Bowl ring on his finger. At his peak, he was catching over 100 passes a season, racking up yards at a historic tempo, and cashing checks because the highest-paid receiver within the league. Brown had all of it: expertise, fame, fortune, and he wasn’t shy about letting the world realize it.
Beneath regular circumstances, at this level, the 36-year-old must be deep into his golden years, rounding out a Corridor of Fame-caliber profession, having fun with endorsement offers, media gigs, and the sort of generational wealth that comes with signing a number of monumental NFL contracts.
Sadly, with Antonio Brown, there isn’t a such factor as regular circumstances. The previous couple of years have been a spiral of chaos and weird incidents, together with confrontations with coaches, lawsuits, suspensions, social media meltdowns, a chapter submitting, and now a warrant for tried homicide. That is the story of how Antonio Brown went from NFL icon to cautionary story, and the way an enormous chunk of NFL earnings seemingly disappeared.
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The Cash He Made
As a sixth-round decide, his preliminary NFL wage was $320,000, plus a $73,075 signing bonus. Brown’s sturdy play earned him a five-year, $42.5 million contract extension, which the Steelers supplied in 2012.
Brown produced his most profitable seasons whereas on that deal. From 2013-18, his season averages have been 114 catches, 1,524 yards, and 11 touchdowns. That might be spectacular sufficient as a single marketing campaign. Brown achieved these numbers six years in a row because the Steelers perennially reached the playoffs.
In 2017, the Steelers gave Brown a four-year, $68 million extension. Nonetheless, Brown solely performed two extra seasons in Pittsburgh, so he solely made about half of that cash.
We’ll go extra into Brown’s extra stops beneath, however he was traded to the Oakland Raiders for a 3rd and fifth-round draft decide in 2019. Over the subsequent 12 months and a half, he solely performed in a single sport out of a potential 24 regular-season contests.
Regardless of a ton of earlier drama, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Brown to a contract for the second half of the 2020 season. The deal was price $2.5 million, which might be earned largely by way of incentives. Brown’s base wage was a mere $750,000.
Brown made it via that 2020 season with out incident, successful a championship with the remainder of the staff whereas scoring two touchdowns within the Tremendous Bowl. The Bucs introduced him again for the 2021 season on a one-year deal price as much as $6.25 million.
Brown’s profession earnings, together with the 2021 season, come to…
$80.5 million
The Cash He Misplaced
The 2019 season was significantly brutal for Brown. On December 30, 2018, he was benched through the Steelers’ Week 17 win after preventing with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Brown reportedly threw a soccer at Roethlisberger. Two and a half months later, the Steelers traded Brown to the Oakland Raiders, who signed him to a three-year, $50 million deal. However Brown’s time in Oakland was short-lived.
Through the summer time, Brown used a cryotherapy machine with out the correct footwear. Because of this, he skilled foot points from the intense chilly. He additionally left a apply early when he could not put on his helmet of alternative. He reportedly threatened to retire, filed grievances, and spray-painted his outdated helmet.
A month later, he missed extra apply and coaching camp. The staff fined him, and it led to a confrontation with Raiders GM Mike Mayock. Brown adopted that confrontation up with an Instagram put up asking to be launched, and the Raiders obliged. Due to the entire scenario with the staff and Mayock, Brown’s contract was voided—he earned not one of the $30 million in assured cash.
Brown then joined the New England Patriots on a one-year, $15 million contract (with a $9 million signing bonus), grabbing 4 catches for 56 yards and a landing in his debut. However after two sexual assault allegations arose in opposition to Brown, the Patriots launched him.
For some time, it appeared like Brown would solely earn a single sport verify of $158,333. Nonetheless, the receiver and staff ultimately got here to an settlement, and Brown acquired $5 million.
On July 30, 2020, the NFL suspended Brown for eight video games—half of a season—from a January arrest. Brown initially was charged with felony assault and battery of a transferring firm truck driver; the costs finally handed down included housebreaking of a automobile, misdemeanor battery, and misdemeanor legal mischief.
Regardless of that, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Brown to a contract for the remainder of the 2020 season. Bucs coach Bruce Arians advised reporters on the time: “He screws up one time, he is gone.”
On December 2, 2021, Brown’s private chef accused the receiver of offering a faux vaccination card to the league. The NFL investigated and suspended him for 3 video games for mendacity about his vaccination standing.
Then got here what will be the most famously weird second of his profession. In January 2022, throughout a sport in opposition to the New York Jets, Brown abruptly left the sector in the midst of the third quarter. He eliminated his jersey, tossed his shirt and gloves into the group, and jogged into the locker room whereas waving to followers. Brown later claimed the staff had tried to pressure him to play whereas injured, however the spectacle marked the top of his time with the Buccaneers.
The exit was expensive. By leaving the staff earlier than the season ended, Brown fell simply wanting three separate efficiency bonuses, every price $333,333. He missed the thresholds by the slimmest of margins: eight receptions, 55 receiving yards, and one landing. In complete, his mid-game walkout seemingly value him almost $1 million.
Brown additionally forfeited $577,460 in fines attributable to a lot of transgressions throughout his profession. Some have been from the NFL for numerous landing celebrations, taunts, and cleating, however Brown’s groups have fined him, too. The Steelers fined him for unsportsmanlike conduct and an tools violation, and the Raiders fined him for the confrontation with Mayock and for not taking part in an August walkthrough apply. The Bucs additionally fined him as a part of the vaccination ruse.
By our math, Brown’s motion value him $55.7 million throughout his time within the NFL. Most of that cash has come because the finish of the 2018 season—probably $50 million from the Raiders, $4 million from the Patriots, and $1 million from the Buccaneers.
Current Controversies & Chapter Submitting
Brown by no means performed one other NFL down after his dramatic exit in New York. And in the previous few years, his weird antics haven’t abated. He launched a short-lived rap profession, releasing a 2022 album titled “Paradigm” and acting at music festivals, usually grabbing consideration extra for his chaotic stage habits and wardrobe selections than the music itself.
He briefly turned the proprietor of the Albany Empire, an indoor soccer staff, however the franchise shortly fell into disarray amid accusations that Brown did not pay gamers, coaches, and distributors. The staff was expelled from the league.
Brown additionally confronted a gentle stream of lawsuits, debt claims, and headline-grabbing social media meltdowns. In 2024, he filed for Chapter 11 chapter in Florida, disclosing simply $50,000 in property and almost $3 million in liabilities.
Then got here maybe essentially the most critical improvement of all. In Might 2025, Brown was concerned in a violent altercation outdoors an novice boxing match in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood. In keeping with eyewitnesses and safety footage, Brown punched a person throughout a dispute, prompting others to hitch the melee. Footage reviewed by investigators allegedly reveals Brown taking a firearm from a safety guard and firing two photographs. One of many bullets reportedly grazed the person’s neck. Brown initially claimed he was the sufferer of an tried theft, however police say surveillance footage and bodily proof inform a distinct story. On June 12, 2025, a choose signed an arrest warrant charging Brown with tried second-degree homicide. On November 6, 2025, Antonio was extradicted to the USA from Dubai to face tried homicide expenses.
If convicted, Brown faces a compulsory minimal of 25 years in jail attributable to Florida’s firearm enhancement legal guidelines.
As soon as thought-about one of the crucial electrifying extensive receivers of his technology, Antonio Brown now finds himself tens of millions of {dollars} in debt, going through critical jail time, and fully estranged from the league that after made him a celebrity.
