Oakland Raiders: Antonio Brown may never play a game in silver and black

Oakland Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown has officially been suspended indefinitely by general manager Mike Mayock. The superstar receiver may never play a regular-season game in silver and black.

The Oakland Raiders knew that they were taking a major risk when they opted to trade for troubled, yet talented wide receiver Antonio Brown in the offseason. And at the time, the deal seemed like a no-brainer.

After all, Brown was fresh off of an incredible sixth consecutive season with 1,200 or more receiving yards. The former sixth-round draft pick had been selected to seven career Pro Bowls and had been named to four first-team All-Pro lists.

And he, for all intents and purposes, showed really no signs of slowing down — at least on the field. However, his off-field antics made the Steelers grow tiresome, hence why the Raiders were able to snag him for such a discounted rate.

Brown was benched for the final game of the 2018 season following a series of missed practices stemming from a dispute with teammate Ben Roethlisberger. Still, acquiring such a talented player for the price that they did, the Raiders were sure to emerge as winners of the trade.

But now, we sit here in early September, just before the start of the 2019 season, and we’re left wondering what went wrong and what happened?

The first signs of trouble were evident when Brown reportedly suffered severe frostbite on his feet after a cryogenic procedure gone wrong in the offseason. But the issue wasn’t exactly the feet, it was more so his secrecy during the entire process.

Brown continuously left the Raiders out of the loop to the point where the team’s front office had no idea whether he would be healthy to play in Week 1.

But even though that was cause for concern, that wasn’t the driving force behind Brown’s sudden suspension. Instead, everything revolved around the Central Michigan product’s helmet.

In a story that was every bit as foolish as it sounds, Brown refused when ordered to adapt a new helmet that fit under the league’s safety protocol. His odd behavior only spiraled out of control from there as Brown would regularly miss team meetings.

And when he would show up, the antics wouldn’t usually stop for too long. Brown would be caught sneaking his old helmet — disguised to look like a newer model — into practice and even threatened retirement over the issue at a point.

Needless to say, none of this went over too well with first-year general manager Mike Mayock. And it all came to head this week when Brown posted an image of his team-sanctioned fines on social media criticizing the Raiders in the process.

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At that point, Mayock had had enough and he decided to suspend Brown indefinitely following a near-physical altercation at the team’s facilities. And that is where we stand today. Who knows what tomorrow has in store?

Perhaps Brown will acquiesce and apologize for his wrongdoings. Or perhaps the situation will only continue to get worse.

But with each day that passes by, it remains ever likelier that Brown never actually suits up to play a regular-season game for the Raiders.

Reports have surfaced that state the Raiders intentions to void the remainder of Brown’s contract on the basis of conduct detrimental to the team. And it’s hard to argue that they don’t have a case.

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If that does happen, Brown will lose out on $30 million in guaranteed money and will thus be declared a free agent. From there, who knows where he goes? Someone will likely take a chance on him, but it’ll only be for a cheap, “prove-it” kind of deal.

But that $30 million will be lost in the annals of history — much like his expected short tenure with the Raiders.

There still remains a chance that the two sides could somehow move on and at least form an amicable relationship. But eventually, a point of no return is reached.

And it sure looks as though Mayock and the Raiders have reached that point with Brown.