Antonio Brown goes off on social media, takes aim at Bruce Arians, Tom Brady and Alex Guerrero

Jordan Greer

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Antonio Brown goes off on social media, takes aim at Bruce Arians, Tom Brady and Alex Guerrero image

The Buccaneers have not yet released Antonio Brown after his mid-game outburst on Sunday, but his departure from the team is merely a matter of procedure. Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians made that much clear when he declared that Brown was "no longer a Buc" after the team's win over the Jets.

(UPDATE: The Buccaneers officially released Brown on Thursday afternoon.)

However, removing the seven-time Pro Bowler from the locker room doesn't eliminate the possibility of more Brown-related drama. Case in point: Brown decided that Thursday morning was a good time to fire off some social-media posts involving Arians, as well as Tom Brady and his longtime trainer, Alex Guerrero.

MORE: Arians has "no regrets" about signing Brown

In his first post on Instagram, Brown shared the rap song that he dropped after he abruptly left the Buccaneers' Week 17 game against the Jets. He added the caption, "They make you seem like the bad person so they can feel right about their wrongs."

But then Brown got more specific, tweeting out what appears to be a conversation between him and Arians showing that they had discussed Brown's ankle injury before Sunday's game. In a statement released through his attorney on Wednesday, Brown alleged that he didn't quit on the team but was "cut" by Arians because he wouldn't play through a "well-documented" injury. Arians didn't share details of the on-field exchange that he had with Brown, only saying that it didn't cover the status of Brown's ankle.

"I'm all-in coach," Brown said in the alleged text conversation. "Really [can't] get to full speed. I wanna win, wanna be there. [If] I wake up tomorrow [and] feel better, I'll be ready."

"Come see me [in] the morning," Arians replied, according to the screenshot. "We'll talk it out. Definitely want you with us in case you're ready." 

Then Brown took aim at Brady and Guerrero, sharing an alleged conversation that he had with Guerrero regarding a financial issue. Brown asked Guerrero for half of the $100,000 that he paid for services, according to the screenshot, and Guerrero asked where he should send the money.

"[Brady's] guy [Guerrero] charging me [$100,000 and] never doing the work on me!" Brown said in the Instagram caption. "[How do you] even work [with] people like this!"

Brown also shared an image of the "Home Alone 2" poster with Arians and Brady portraying the thieves originally played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern.

In his final post, Brown explained that he was ultimately more upset with how the team handled his injury than any actions made by his teammates.

"Don't get it twisted. My brothers have been good to me," Brown tweeted. "From Tom to practice squad, we were a top-level unit. They have been good to me and knew nothing about my talks with coach last week. The team mishandled this situation. They let me down and, more importantly, my teammates."

Arians is not scheduled to speak to reporters until Friday, but Brady is supposed to be available to the media on Thursday. He said Sunday that Brown's exit was "obviously a difficult situation."

"We all love him. We care about him deeply. We want to see him be at his best. Unfortunately, [he] won't be with our team," Brady said. "We have a lot of friendships that will last. Again, I think the most important thing about football are the relationships with your friends and teammates, and they go beyond the field.

"I think everyone should be very compassionate and empathetic toward some very difficult things that are happening."

(UPDATE: Arians is now expected to speak to reporters on Thursday after the conclusion of the Buccaneers' practice.)

Jordan Greer

Jordan Greer Photo

Jordan Greer has been with The Sporting News since 2015. He previously worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He is a graduate of Westminster College and Syracuse University.