New England Patriots: How Antonio Brown will fit in 2019 offense

With Antonio Brown reportedly heading to the New England Patriots, here’s how the star wide receiver will fit in alongside Tom Brady and company.

The early season saga surrounded around Antonio Brown took another quick turn on Saturday afternoon when it was reported that the star wide receiver is heading to the New England Patriots.

After an offseason filled with endless amounts of drama and early-season head butting with the Oakland Raiders front office and coaching staff, Brown will apparently now join Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and company in New England.

ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported Saturday afternoon that Brown has agreed to a one-year, $15 million contract with the Patriots. That report was later confirmed by Brown himself via Twitter:

In a matter of just a few days, Brown has gone from being a member of the Raiders while possibly receiving a team-issued suspension or fine, to playing on Monday night against the Denver Broncos, to asking for a release and later joining the Patriots.

What a turn of events.

Brown will join New England and immediately help boost an already potent Patriots offense led by a future Hall-of-Fame quarterback in Brady, who has done a nice job of getting the most out of his teammates really since he broke into the NFL.

Brown jumps into a New England offense that already consists of high-potential wide receivers in veterans Julian Edelman, Demaryius Thomas and Josh Gordon, among others. That quartet alone should provide Brady with more than enough weapons on the outside and in the middle of the field to be able to air things out, supplying the Hall-of-Fame quarterback with arguably the largest amount of talent at wide receiver in the last handful of seasons.

Not only does that talent open things up in the passing game, but it will also assist in the Patriots’ efforts on the ground rushing the football. Led by the running back duo of Sony Michel and James White, the attention that Brown and the rest of the wide receiving corps will obtain will likely open things up for New England in the rushing game to balance out the offense.

Entering his 10th season in the league in 2019, with all nine previous years occurring as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Brown is coming off of a season in 2018 where he appeared in 15 of the 16 games while totaling the highest amount of receiving touchdowns of her career.

In 15 games, Brown recorded 104 receptions on a total of 168 overall targets to finish the year with 1,297 receiving yards and a career-high 15 touchdowns. With a catch percentage of 61.9 percent, Brown averaged 86.5 yards per game as a wideout for Pittsburgh.

Brown joining the Patriots, who dismantled his former team in the Steelers on Sunday Night Football in Week 1 of the 2019 regular season without the new addition, will make this New England team and especially the offense a scary one to face for the rest of the teams in the league.

With the mix of talent throughout the roster for the Patriots, now adding a seven-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro wide receiver to all of that, will make New England a clear favorite to claim the Super Bowl title for a second consecutive season this year.

That is assuming that Brown is able to keep all the drama in check during his time in New England, of course.