Will Antonio Brown suit up for first time since Buccaneers exit? Ex-NFL WR reveals plans for NY franchise

Antonio Brown's NFL career went down in flames about 18 months ago, but the wide receiver isn't ready to fully hang it up just yet. He won't be wearing the shield, but he will be wearing shoulder pads, Brown said according to Albany radio station WNYT via TMZ. The wide receiver will be playing for the Albany Empire on June 17, when the team faces the Jacksonville Sharks.

The date is actually the result of a delay. Initially, the wide receiver was targeting a May 27 debut, but messed up on the paperwork. As such, he got a roughly three-week delay. Some doubt the wide receiver's commitment to taking hits in a league less known than the NFL, but the date appears to be all but set in stone.

Antonio Brown solicits Cam Newton to debut with him

Cam Newton at 148th Kentucky Derby

The wide receiver wasn't hoping to make his return to football alone, however. According to Dov Kleiman, the wide receiver offered former Super Bowl 50 quarterback Cam Newton $150,000 to throw him some passes in one game. It appears that the price wasn't high enough, as no known plans are in the works for the quarterback to join the receiver.

Antonio Brown's NFL career

Antonio Brown at Dallas Cowboys v Tampa Bay Buccaneers

During the majority of the 2010s, the receiver dominated defenses as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. In nine seasons with the team, the wide receiver earned at least 1,000 yards in seven seasons and at least 1,400 yards four times. In 2014 and 2015, he put up the best statistics of his career, earning 129 receptions for 1,698 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2014.

In 2015, he had 136 catches for 1,834 yards and 10 touchdowns. Put simply, many saw him as the best receiver in the NFL. However, as the years continued, the receiver appeared to slip more and more into his own island, routinely rubbing fans, teammates and others the wrong way.

After 2018, the team had enough and pushed him into the wind down stage of his career. After a brief cameo with the Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots in 2019, he followed Tom Brady to Tampa Bay, where he earned his lone Super Bowl ring.

In the end, all signs point to his availability ultimately becoming his downfall. In his final two seasons, Brown appeared in just 15 games and it was reportedly his final refusal to play in a late-season Jets game that blew everything up, sending the receiver over the edge and ditching the team mid-game.