Text messages requesting release may not impact Antonio Brown’s grievance against Raiders

[Rusher]

Getty Images

Antonio Brown’s umpteen grievances include an effort to recover $30 million in guaranteed money from the Raiders. That effort could have been undermined by text messages sent by Brown to Raiders owner Mark Davis.

Chris Mortensen of ESPN reports that the Raiders submitted as part of the discovery process multiple text messages in which Brown asked for his release. As Mortensen characterizes the situation, the text messages hamper Brown’s effort to get the money from the Raiders.

Without more evidence and/or context, it’s hard to come to that conclusion. If, for example, Brown sent the messages after the Raiders informed him that his guaranteed money had been voided by missing practices and other violations of his contract, the text messages would be irrelevant to the guarantees.

The far bigger problem, as it relates to Brown’s grievance against the Raiders over guaranteed money, comes from the fact that he did indeed leave camp (and miss practice) amid his helmet tantrum. That’s enough, based on the language of his contract, to wipe out the guarantees.