Antonio Brown rejected $2M settlement with woman who accused him of rape: report says
Antonio Brown #17 of the New England Patriots warms up prior to the game against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on September 15, 2019 in Miami, Florida.
Antonio Brown rejected a $2 million dollar settlement with Britney Taylor, the former trainer who accused him of sexual assault on three occasions in 2017 and 2018, according to a report by ESPN's Jeff Darlington.
The news comes as Brown suited up to play Sunday afternoon against the Miami Dolphins following a week of practice with the New England Patriots and a day before Taylor is expected to meet with the NFL to discuss her allegations that the wide receiver raped her.
Brown reportedly had a deadline last Sunday night to reach a settlement agreement before the lawyers of Taylor said they would file a civil lawsuit against him. When Brown didn't sign off on the agreement, the suit was officially filed on Tuesday, the report stated.
The decision to not sign the settlement agreement was reported to have occurred roughly the same time that he agreed to a contract with the New England Patriots on Sept. 7 and talks by parties regarding the settlement actually started as early as April of this year.
The discussions included two mediations in April and May, according to the ESPN report.
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Brown traveled to Miami with the Patriots and is expected to play, according to multiple reports. Patriots head coach, Bill Belichick has stayed mum on whether he will start the talented, yet maligned wide receiver, saying on Friday Brown has "a long way to go."
"Obviously, he's not familiar with our offense. The systems that he's been in have been quite different," Belichick said. "Jon [Gruden] does the West Coast offense, and there's very little carryover from their system [in Oakland] to our system....Similar thing in Pittsburgh. He's working hard to pick it up, and we're working hard to get it to him."
The receiver won't be suspended as of yet because Brown hasn't been charged with a crime and Commissioner Roger Goodell has yet to place him on his Exempt List, which is essentially paid leave for players in unusual circumstances who have been charged in a crime or that Goodell believes have violated the personal conduct policy.
In terms of the civil lawsuit, Taylor has given information to the league before she meets with league officials on Monday and Brown is not expected to be at the meeting, according to ESPN's Josina Anderson. The outlet had previously reported the duo were expected to meet sometime next week.