Antonio Brown Says He Won't Have Surgery on Ankle Injury Unless NFL Team Has Interest

Free-agent wide receiver Antonio Brown suggested this week that he doesn't plan to undergo surgery on his ankle unless an NFL team commits to signing him.

Appearing on FS1's TMZ Sports show, Brown said the following regarding his injury status: "I need to get my ankle fixed, but I just want to make sure I got an obligation or a commitment from a team. ... It's a lot for a guy to go do surgery without an idea of where you gonna work, or who you going to work for."

Late in the 2021 regular season, Brown walked out on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the middle of a game against the New York Jets. Brown later said he felt pressured to play by then-Bucs head coach Bruce Arians while suffering from the ankle ailment.

In the wake of the incident, the Buccaneers released Brown, and he did not play for the remainder of the 2021 campaign.

Brown, 33, was plagued by injuries last season, but he was highly productive when healthy as part of a pass-catching group that included Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Rob Gronkowski.

With quarterback Tom Brady slinging him the ball, Brown registered 42 receptions for 545 yards and four touchdowns in seven games. He also performed well in 2020, racking up 45 grabs for 483 yards and four scores in eight games, as well as two touchdowns in three playoff games en route to the Bucs winning the Super Bowl.

Earlier in his career, Brown consistently put up elite numbers with the Pittsburgh Steelers, earning seven Pro Bowl nods and four first-team All-Pro selections in nine seasons.

He also finished with at least 100 receptions, 1,200 yards and eight touchdowns in six consecutive seasons from 2013 to 2018, landing him on the Pro Football Hall of Fame's All-2010s Team.

Any issues with Brown in recent years have been related to injuries and off-field problems. Brown played in just one game in the 2019 season because the New England Patriots released him in the wake of allegations he sent threatening text messages to a woman who had accused him of sexual misconduct.

That same year, Brown's former trainer Britney Taylor filed a civil lawsuit against Brown accusing him of three instances of sexual assault, including one instance of rape. The case was settled in 2021.

Brown also pleaded no-contest to charges of burglary and battery in relation to an incident with a moving-truck driver in 2020. He was suspended for eight games that season for what the NFL described as "multiple violations" of the personal conduct policy.

That history would perhaps make signing him a risk, but a reduced salary could turn out to be an incredible value.

It is possible that Brown won't be given any more chances, but he made it clear that he would like to continue playing: "I'm a player first. I couldn't even be in this position without being a football player. So I never want to take that for granted. I would love to continue my career. I got a lot of game left in me."

Brown also said he still believes he can put up "big numbers," and his prorated production in Tampa seems to support that hypothesis.

In a league that saw Christian Kirk land an $18 million-per-year contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars this offseason despite never reaching 1,000 receiving yards or eclipsing six receiving touchdowns in a season, the allure of getting a receiver of Brown's caliber for a fraction of the price could be enough to keep his NFL career alive.