Report: Antonio Brown's $9M Patriots Signing Bonus Likely 'Gone' After Release

Antonio Brown will reportedly not receive his $9 million signing bonus after being released by the New England Patriots on Friday.

According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the Pats are not obligated to pay him the signing bonus due to a "contract clause calling for players to disclose situations preventing availability." Brown would have been paid $5 million had he still been on the roster Monday and could still file a grievance, but a source told Fowler that the money is "gone."

ESPN's Field Yates provided a breakdown of the money Brown forfeited as a result of his releases from the Oakland Raiders and Patriots this month:

Brown appeared in just one game for the Pats this season, catching four passes for 56 yards and one touchdown against the Miami Dolphins last week.

The Pittsburgh Steelers traded Brown to the Raiders during the offseason, and he signed a three-year, $50.125 million restructured contract with Oakland after the trade.

Brown got into a verbal altercation with Raiders general manager Mike Mayock as a result of fines for missing practice time amid a helmet grievance with the NFL. The Raiders then voided all of Brown's guaranteed money and released him.

That led to Brown signing a one-year deal with New England that included a $9 million signing bonus and a team option for 2020.

Shortly after signing with the Pats, Brown's former trainer, Britney Taylor, filed a civil lawsuit against him due to allegations that he sexually assaulted her on three occasions.

Then, another woman told Robert Klemko of The MMQB this week that she received threatening messages from Brown after telling Sports Illustrated that he made unwanted sexual advances toward her in 2017.

The woman provided Klemko with screenshots of a text conversation that included the woman and four other people. She said one of the phone numbers was the same one Brown used to correspond with her previously, and Sports Illustrated corroborated the claim.

The number attributed to Brown sent photos of the woman and her children and told someone named "Eric B" to "look up her background history."

That number also texted, "Really sad you would make up bull s--t story to the world thought u had more integrity n respect for yourself must be really hard times for to make up some stuff for money super sad."

On Friday, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick stormed out of a press conference when asked to provide further comment on the situation:

Brown's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, put out a statement regarding Brown after his release from New England and wrote that Brown "wants to play the game he loves and he hopes to play for another team soon."

The 31-year-old Brown is a seven-time Pro Bowler and one of the top receivers of the past decade in the NFL with 841 receptions for 11,263 yards and 75 touchdowns during his career.