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The New Orleans Saints did not sign Antonio Brown after last week’s workout, and reports suggest they aren’t likely to add him to the team this year. Brown didn’t do much to help his case by logging onto his official Instagram account and lambasting the Saints in a live video, which was recorded and shared by Bleacher Report.
“I appreciate Sean Payton and them guys for supporting me, for bringing me out to work out but I think it was a publicity stunt for them,” Brown said in the video, which was broadcast to his 3.7 million Instagram followers. “Sean Payton knows the film that’s being left behind.”
That doesn’t really pass the smell test. For one thing, why do the Saints want or need the publicity of connecting themselves to Brown? It’s a ridiculous thing for him to suggest, especially given Payton’s notoriously fickle relationship with the media. He’s rare to give interviews or connect himself with reporters, and only shares daily Saints practice reports with local media over conference call. The last thing he wants is extra scrutiny brought down on his organization through an association with Brown.
AB says the Saints bringing him in for a workout was a “publicity stunt” and Sean Payton knows “the film that being left behind” pic.twitter.com/C3ddwacfv4
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) December 31, 2019
So this probably doesn’t mean much, unless we’re putting extra weight on the opinions of a social-media obsessed football player who’s gotten himself traded once and cut twice in the last nine months. There’s no doubting Brown’s abilities and past production — and how much he could help the Saints — but this is just an example of the kind of distraction that comes with him.
And when the Saints are so close to a Super Bowl, these are factors that Payton and his staff will consider when deciding whether adding Brown would be worth it. Payton admitted it himself after Brown’s tryout when asked how much the wideout’s social media activity would be evaluated before signing him, saying, “All of that goes into a decision like that. It’s part of the process of bringing a player in.”
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