Bucs' Grimes felt 'disrespected' covering top WRs on $7M contract

Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback """"Brent Grimes says he felt 'disrespected' when coaches asked him to shadow No. 1 wide receivers despite not being paid like a top corner.

"They wanna pay me $7 million when other corners are making way more than that and not playing as well as me? Cool," Grimes said on the iHeartMiko podcast hosted by his wife, Miko Grimes.

"We get to the (Pittsburgh) Steelers and then they start asking me to follow people," he continued. "We get to a game with Antonio Brown and it's 'follow receivers' and I couldn't agree with it cause it's just disrespectful.

"People that follow receivers all the time - unless they're on a rookie contract or trying to get paid - are usually making $13 million, 15 million dollars a year."

Grimes felt he was being taken advantage of and that it ultimately hurt his play.

"It f----- up my vibe for the whole year, to be completely honest," he said. "I felt disrespected."

The 35-year-old was benched during the second half of Tampa Bay's Week 4 game against the Chicago Bears for being on his phone at halftime - something he claimed at least 70 percent of all players do.

"They said I was on my phone at halftime, which was true because I'm on my phone every game of my career," Grimes said.

Miko suggested the benching could have been a disciplinary measure after her husband's reaction to lining up against top receivers. She described the four-time Pro Bowler's plan to "pull an Antonio Brown" and sit out Week 17 against the Atlanta Falcons.

Defensive backs coach Jon Hoke apparently apologized to Grimes, who ended up playing in the season finale.

Grimes signed a one-year contract worth $7 million - with another $1 million in incentives - with the Buccaneers last March. He finished the season with 48 total tackles, one forced fumble, and six broken up passes.

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