Lamar Jackson pitched a notable addition to his team's receiving corps Wednesday, and on Thursday his coach weighed in on the matter.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh was asked about Jackson's comments related to Antonio Brown. Though he did not rule out the high-profile addition, Harbaugh made it clear no signing appears to be imminent.
"I respect him for feeling that way. I respect his opinion on it," Harbaugh said of Jackson's thoughts on Brown. "I definitely appreciate hearing how that workout went whenever it was -- I mean, it was a long time ago now. But we will look at any and every player at all times. So, Antonio Brown is no exception.
"Decisions will be made based on whenever they're made and I don't think he's really available to even sign right now so it's not really a conversation that you have until he's available to sign. Maybe I'm wrong about that. That's something I will have to ask (Ravens general manager) Eric (DeCosta) about, where that stands with the league and the player, but that's where we stand on it. At least from my perspective."
While any team is free to sign Brown right now, Harbaugh is understandably hesitant to discuss at length pursuing the receiver, whose volatility has been more notable than his production since his final season in Pittsburgh. A marriage with the Raiders via trade fizzled before he could take the field for a regular-season game, and his time with the Patriots lasted one game before he was sent packing by them as well.
Since then, Brown has only made news for his issues off the field. A league investigation into allegations of sexual assault and rape against Brown remains ongoing, and publicly, the focus hasn't been so much on Brown's potential return to the game, but his overall well-being.
Brown, meanwhile, has vacillated between bidding the game farewell and then reversing course and lashing out at the NFL, demanding the league conclude its personal conduct investigation so that he can return to football. The latest bout of this activity happened one week ago.
It would seem prohibitive for a team with a strong locker room to add a recurring source of drama and distraction, especially for a club that was just fine in 2019 at 14-2. Running it back with most of the same pieces plus less click-drawing offseason additions appears wiser than bringing in a huge name like Brown that could invite even larger issues.
