Arians: Antonio Brown Won't Be with Bucs If Sexual Assault Allegations Are True

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians said the team will not keep Antonio Brown on the roster if the sexual assault allegations against him are proven in court when the civil lawsuit he's facing goes to trial in December.

"Let the court system do its job," he told reporters. "If they're true, he won't be with us.''

The Buccaneers signed the 32-year-old Brown to a one-year deal over the weekend, though he won't be eligible to appear in a game until Nov. 8 because of an eight-game NFL suspension.

Britney Taylor, Brown's former trainer, filed a lawsuit against the wide receiver, saying he sexually assaulted her twice in 2017 and raped her in 2018. Another woman said he made an unwanted sexual advance toward her while she was working on an art piece at his house in 2017. That woman later said that Brown sent her intimidating text messages after she made the allegation.

Additionally, Brown pleaded no-contest in June to felony burglary with battery and two misdemeanors after a dispute with a moving truck driver and company. Brown avoided jail time and won't have a felony on his record, though he was given two years of probation and 100 hours of community service as a part of his plea deal.

Brown last appeared in the NFL for one game in the 2019 season with the New England Patriots, though he was cut by the team amid the accusations of sexual assault and his reported intimidating text messages. He teamed up with Tom Brady at the time, and Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported that the Bucs quarterback "advocated strongly and consistently for the signing" of Brown this week.

"There is one reason he's there: Tom Brady," a source told La Canfora.

Arians denied those reports, however.

"Tom had nothing to do with this," he told reporters. "This is something Jason [Licht] and I have been talking about for some time."