Days after suggesting a return to the Patriots on social media, volatile wide receiver Antonio Brown wants to get he off-field issues resolved so he can return to the NFL, according to an ESPN report.
Brown is accused of rape and sexual assault in a lawsuit filed by a former trainer. He's also accused of sexual misconduct by an artist who worked in his home in 2017. Brown sent threatening texts to that woman shortly after signing with the Patriots, which led to his release from the team Sept. 20 after an 11-day stint that included one game.
Brown's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said after the day after his release from New England that there were a few teams interested in signing the receiver.
The NFL is investigating Brown for violating its personal conduct policy, but the 31-year-old wide receiver has yet to speak to league investigators, according to the ESPN report.
After Brown signs with a team, he could be placed on the commissioner's exempt list, which would keep him from playing. The league warned teams at the time of his release in a statement that read in part, "...If he is signed by a club, such placement may become appropriate at any time depending on the status of the investigation."
As of now, he's a free agent, but a return to New England seems unlikely in light of his release last month, and a grievance the NFL Players Association has filed on his behalf seeking a $9 million signing bonus from the Patriots that went unpaid.
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That's just one of eight grievances filed for Brown against the Patriots, and Oakland Raiders, where he began the summer after leaving the Pittsburgh Steelers as a free agent. They seek more than $39.775 million in lost salary, bonuses and guaranteed money, according to ESPN.
Despite all that, Brown told his followers in an Instagram story posted Wednesday: "You guys follow the Patriots tell them to call me. They still gotta pay me, might as well let me earn it."
And beyond his off-field trouble and status with the league allowing a return to the field, there's also the matter of Brown's Twitter reference last month to Patriots owner Robert Kraft's prostitution arrest in Florida that makes a reunion with the Pats doubtful.
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