Floyd Mayweather has developed a close bond and friendship with beleaguered free-agent receiver Antonio Brown. The legendary boxer made an appearance on The Pivot podcast where he made a proposal to NFL teams that if they sign Brown, he'd personally bear the brunt of the financial risk.
Mayweather said that if things don’t pan out with Brown and he has another meltdown next season, Mayweather will fork out $20 million in compensation to the team that signs the controversial 33-year-old receiver.
The boxer also spoke on how he views Brown, who Mayweather has brought under his wing ever since his recent exit from the NFL while also indicating that the image the media portrays of Brown is 'unfair'.
“I think AB is really misunderstood,” Mayweather said. “He just wants to be treated fair. And this is for any team that’s watching right now. We’ll make them a deal: if they sign AB and AB go through the whole season, no problems at all, and then they gotta give us $20 million. But if he mess up, then we’ve gotta give them $20 million. So if any team want to match that, you know, reach out to us.”
While I'm sure Mayweather has the funds to fork up such a large sum of money if Brown were to mess up again, it would be a clear violation of the leagues salary cap regulations.
Mayweather isn't the first person to try to mentor Brown. Former Bucs teammate Tom Brady served a similar role to Brown, letting the All-Pro receiver stay at his house and workout with him during Tampa's Super Bowl-winning season. However since thing, Brown has ripped TB12 for being a friend only because he could help him win games and complaining that he didn't throw him the ball during Brown's infamous meltdown against the New York Jets.
Brown's antics are wearing thin on NFL teams, leading many franchises to be hesitant to give him a contract. His last appearance on a field ended with a bizarre exit from the Bucs-Jets game in Week 18 where he ripped off his jersey and ran off the field. After tossing his t-shirt and gloves into the stands, he did jumping jacks in the end zone as he trotted towards the tunnel at MetLife Stadium.
After that wild incident, Brown and the Buccaneers engaged in a war of words, starting with Brown claiming former head coach Bruce Arians was mad at him for not wanting to get back in the game despite claiming he had an injured ankle. His former teammate Mike Evans also said that Brown was upset that day because he wasn't getting the ball to reach a number of performance bonuses Brown was closing in on.
Although there has been little indication that a team will take a risk on the seven-time Pro Bowler, he was caught hanging out with Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and even said he wants to play for the former NFL MVP.
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