Antonio Brown's Patriots Contract Reportedly Includes $20M Option for 2020

Antonio Brown is officially a member of the New England Patriots after signing his contract.

Brown's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, told Adam Schefter of ESPN the deal is one year and worth up to $15 million. Brown will receive $10 million guaranteed—including a $9 million signing bonus—and as much as $5 million more in incentives. 

It also includes an option for a second year:

This move capped off a whirlwind offseason for Brown.

The Pittsburgh Steelers traded him to the Oakland Raiders in March, and his time in the Bay Area ended in just under six months after the Raiders released him Saturday.

During his short stint with the Raiders, Brown suffered frostbite on his feet, engaged in a protracted battle with the NFL over the helmet he could use and received a sizable fine from the team that voided $29.1 million in guaranteed money.

He didn't appear to be upset with losing out on all that money. In fact, he was overjoyed upon learning of his release.

Brown's actions were apparently part of a concerted effort to get out of Oakland. ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported the seven-time Pro Bowler "sought out advice from social media consultants for ideas on how he [could] accelerate his release with Raiders."

That would explain why Brown shared a photo of his fine letter from the Raiders and wrote "Release me" in a post on Instagram. He also shared a hype video that included audio of a supposed phone call with Raiders head coach Jon Gruden (warning: video contains profanity):

When Brown hit the open market, a move to the Patriots seemed too on the nose to actually happen.

The parallel to Randy Moss was obvious. New England acquired Moss in 2007 after two underwhelming years with the Raiders, and he immediately set the single-season record for receiving touchdowns (23) as the team went 16-0 in the regular season and reached the Super Bowl.

The Steelers knew how devastating Brown could be in the Patriots offense; Schefter reported New England attempted to work out a deal with Pittsburgh in March to no avail.

Not that anybody was seriously doubting the reigning Super Bowl champions, but the passing game looked like a question mark for the Patriots earlier in the offseason. Rob Gronkowski retired, and New England didn't have an active receiver on the roster who could approach Gronk's level when the tight end was healthy.

Then the NFL formally reinstated Josh Gordon, and the team landed Brown. Now, the Patriots have Brown, Gordon and Julian Edelman as their three best pass-catchers—as formidable a trio as you'll find in the league.