The Raiders have released Antonio Brown, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Looks like Brown got his wish from his Instagram post. The Brown/Raiders saga was a mess from the beginning and only intensified in the past few weeks. But, mercifully, it is over. The release became much easier for the Raiders once the guarantees were voided, meaning the Raiders do not owe Brown another dollar. In fact, the Raiders will end up paying Brown a total of zero dollars. He never received a single paycheck and his workout bonuses were also voided. Brown is now a free agent. He will likely sign somewhere else, perhaps with a contending team. The question now is how much money will a team give Brown after all the events that have happened.
Here’s the spin from our John Paulsen:
“From a fantasy standpoint, the loss of Antonio Brown is a big downgrade for the entire offense and especially Derek Carr. There will be increased opportunity for the other receivers, namely Tyrell Williams (career year: 69-1059-7 on 119 targets in 2016) who now looks like a fantasy WR3/WR4, and Darren Waller, who was already trending up as a breakout candidate at tight end. J.J. Nelson (career year: 34-568-6 in 2016) and Ryan Grant (career year: 45-573-4) will try to replace Brown on the outside, while Hunter Renfroe will remain in his role in the slot. Josh Jacobs may have a higher ceiling in terms of workload, but the loss of Brown will reduce his room to run.
As for Brown, he won't be subject to waivers so as of 4 pm ET, he'll be a free agent. Given his talent, it's likely that some team will sign him thinking they can manage his big personality.”
