Maybe the Raiders will gamble and sign Tom Brady to accelerate their rebuild. Maybe Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock will take his call but eventually opt for the patient approach.
I have no idea what will happen with Brady, but I can say this for certain: Antonio Brown will not be coming with him if he signs with the Raiders.
On Monday, ESPN's Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler dropped their notes column from the past week's NFL Scouting Combine, and there was an eyebrow-raising nugget in the Brady section.
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According to Graziano and Fowler, two people close to Brown said that Brady and Brown "keep in constant contact" and that Brady has told Brown he wants the receiver to play with him next season, wherever that might be.
Well if that's the case, you can return those silver and black Brady jerseys you prematurely bought.
A few weeks ago, Brown said he recently spoke to head coach Jon Gruden and wouldn't close the door on a return to the Raiders.
While Brown and Gruden might still chat whenever Brown is allowed some phone time at the looney bin, general manager Mike Mayock most certainly has shut the door, locked it, barricaded it and launched the only key into the sun.
NFL
"Antonio Brown, I have very little comment about," Mayock said at the NFL Scouting Combine. "I think he had his time with the Raiders and I think his time his up."
Brown turned the Raiders into a sideshow before the beginning of last season. From the frostbitten feet to the helmet grievances and the altercation in which he reportedly threatened to punch Mayock, Brown was the stuff of nightmares. A distraction who couldn't get out of his own way long enough to make it to Game 1 with his new team. In the end, guerilla-style YouTube videos were more important to Brown than being on the field.
If one of Brady's stipulations is that Brown comes with him, you can absolutely count the Raiders all the way out.
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Gruden might be the ultimate wild card, but there's little doubt Mayock wants nothing to do with Brown, and it's hard to see the locker room reacting positively to the return of the guy who almost derailed their season before it began.
Now, the information is coming from those close to Brown so it's unclear how accurate that information is or if it's rooted in any sort of reality.
Brady is the GOAT and would provide an upgrade at the most essential position in sports. That much is true. He wants weapons and Brown certainly is that. But Brady is smart. While Brown is talented, he's a ticking time bomb who only Mike Tomlin could control. It seems far-fetched to think Brady would tie the final stage of his career to a receiver who might never see the field again.
If the talk with Brady includes bringing Brown back in, the Raiders will hang up the phone. And they should. No one needs that headache a second time.