The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going all in.
As expected, free agent wide receiver Antonio Brown and the Buccaneers have finalized and agreed to a one-year deal, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Saturday, per source.
The contract is worth $1 million in base salary, but Brown could earn up to $2.5 million with incentives, Rapoport added.
Brown arrived in Tampa on Friday night and began the first day of the COVID-19 protocols. If all goes according to plan, Brown will be eligible to play for the Bucs in Week 9 after serving an eight-game suspension handed to him by the league for multiple violations of the league's personal-conduct policy.
Brown, 32, hasn't played a down in the NFL since September of 2019 when the capricious wideout had Tom Brady throwing him passes in New England for all of one game. It was the culmination of a rocky year that began with an unceremonious exit out of Pittsburgh via trade, a dramatic offseason that lead to his release from the Raiders, and after a two-week foray with the Patriots, Brown's 2019 ended with another release amid the same criminal allegations that led to his suspension from the NFL.
With a chance to hit the reset button in the later stage of his career, Brown reunites with Brady and joins a Tampa team heavily invested in winning it all this year. In their one game together last season, Brady and Brown had a palpable on-field chemistry and it's no wonder the future Hall of Fame quarterback had a hand in rekindling that connection.
Should Brown return to form, Brady's options at receiver will be an embracement of riches with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin rounding out a dynamic trio. While Evans and Godwin have had injury-laden starts to the 2020 season, Brown's arrival could offer some temporary relief before amounting to an unprecedented collection of playmakers.
Brown caught 104 passes for 1,297 and a league-leading 15 touchdowns in 2018, his last full season in the league.
The Buccaneers (4-2) currently sit atop the NFC South through six weeks and are looking for their first division title since the 2007 season. The addition of Brown goes to show the Bucs are aiming much higher than that.
