Antonio Brown suddenly got another NFL look, but his odds of making a return during the playoffs seem slim at best.
The mercurial wide receiver worked out for the New Orleans Saints Friday morning, along with five other receivers, just two days before their Week 17 game against the Carolina Panthers. Brown, who shared a picture of a Saints free-agent waiver form on his Instagram story, was joined in the session by ex-Redskins wideout Maurice Harris.
Saints coach Sean Payton said the team worked out receivers and gave them physicals as part of doing due diligence. How Brown would factor in on an offense that already features star pass-catcher Michael Thomas and tight end Jared Cook, both favorite targets of QB Drew Brees, would make for an intriguing show, but coach Sean Payton announced later in the day the Saints won’t be signing Brown after his workout with the team.
Payton said the Saints — the NFC South champions who are 12-3 and still have a chance to get a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the NFC — would need clarity from the NFL regarding whether Brown would be eligible to play in the playoffs if signed. Payton also admitted, per ESPN, that he was probably lying when he said earlier this season the Saints had no interest in signing Brown.
The 31-year-old receiver is the subject of an ongoing NFL investigation into sexual assault allegations made against him by his former trainer Britney Taylor, as well as sexual misconduct allegations made by a second woman.
As NFL Network noted, the NFL has told teams if Brown is signed, he could quickly end up on the commissioner’s exempt list as a result of the investigation.
Antonio Brown shared with waiver form on Instagram.@ab/InstgramBrown appeared in one game this season, a Week 2 tilt with the New England Patriots in Miami. They agreed to a deal on Sept. 7 — the same day Brown was released by the Oakland Raiders. Three days later, Brown was accused by Taylor of sexual assault in a civil suit.
He has since been on a dizzying run of social-media posts, which has included saying he’s done with the NFL, only for him to say he wants back in. He’s taken shots at Robert Kraft, to whom he later apologized, and he’s gotten into Twitter spats with current NFL players.


