Former NFL star Antonio Brown will accept a plea deal in his second-degree attempted murder case, resulting in probation and avoiding the possibility of a decades-long prison sentence, his attorney said Wednesday.
The deal comes two weeks after Brown's accuser -- the sole alleged victim in the case -- announced that he would no longer participate in Brown's prosecution.
"They made [Brown] an offer he couldn't refuse," Brown's attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, said in a statement. "There is a profound difference between believing you can win a case and deciding that you and your family cannot afford to spend another year, or potentially several years, wearing an ankle monitor and fighting it."
Brown will appear before a judge in one week to formally accept the deal, which will be a reduced charge of aggravated assault, Eiglarsh told ESPN on Wednesday.
"There's no prison, there's no jail, there's no house arrest. There's only straight probation," Eiglarsh told ESPN. "And no alcohol or drug evaluation, no psychological evaluation, no letter of apology, no community service hours, no fines. Just stay away from the victim.
"No one in their right mind will continue with litigation and/or uncertain stand your ground and trial when [the prosecutors] threw that on the table."
Brown, 38, faced up to 30 years in prison if convicted, with a mandatory minimum of 20 years under Florida law, for an incident involving gunfire outside an amateur boxing match in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood in May 2025. He pleaded not guilty in November 2025 and filed a motion to dismiss the following month based on Florida's "stand your ground" law.
Eiglarsh added that Brown's decision to accept the deal "should not be interpreted as a retreat from his position that he acted lawfully."
The alleged victim, Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, said through his attorney on Sept. 9 that "he does not wish to participate" in Brown's prosecution. Attorney Richard L. Cooper said earlier this month that Nantambu forgave Brown for the May 2025 incident.
"We believe that the ends of justice are accomplished with this plea deal, and my client wishes Mr. Brown good health," Cooper told ESPN on Wednesday.
After the May 2025 incident, Brown spent nearly six months in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he traveled after the incident, before being extradited by U.S. marshals. Brown was released on $25,000 bail and placed on house arrest with a GPS ankle monitor.
According to the "stand your ground" motion, Brown was trying to get to his car for safety after Nantambu had attacked him. Police said Brown punched Nantambu in the face and, along with two others, continued the attack.
Nantambu walked away, according to a police description of the security footage. Brown then "chases him down with a gun and shoots at him at point-blank range," according to a prosecutor. Police added that video from social media showed Brown with a gun in his hand near Nantambu. Two gunshots followed. Nantambu ducked after the first shot was heard, police said.
The stand your ground motion, which acknowledged Brown as the shooter, indicated he "reasonably feared" that Nantambu was armed and that Nantambu made an "aggressive movement" toward Brown.
"In that moment, Brown again reasonably feared death or great bodily harm," the motion read.
Brown then fired two "warning shots, intentionally aiming away from Nantambu to ensure he would not be struck," the motion asserted. Brown also said Nantambu took the weapon after a struggle and left with it.
Brown, who spent 12 years in the NFL, was an All-Pro wide receiver who last played in 2021 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but spent most of his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
