Duane Brown is heading into his age-36 season, but the Seahawks left tackle does not sound like he is planning a near-future retirement. Ahead of his fifth season in Seattle, Brown wants another raise.
The contract-year blocker wants a new deal, according to NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo (on Twitter). The Seahawks extended Brown in July 2018 — less than a year after trading for him. That $11.5MM-per-year contract was not a top-tier left tackle deal at the time and is well off the pace now.
A four-time Pro Bowler, Brown has provided the Seahawks left tackle stability by giving an annually embattled offensive line a blindside anchor. Brown’s salary, however, ranks 16th among left tackles. Brown is set to earn $10MM in base salary this season.
The 14th-year vet does not intend to hold out, however, per Garafolo, but this is now one of many contract situations to monitor around the league. He is at the Seahawks’ minicamp but not participating in on-field work, per the Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta (on Twitter). The Seahawks have another of these situations unfolding on their roster, though Jamal Adams is not in attendance.
While Brown’s age stands to limit his earning potential in his final NFL seasons, his request for a second Seahawks extension comes months after Russell Wilson made critical comments about his team’s O-line approach. Although the team traded for guard Gabe Jackson, Brown obviously serves as a key cog in Seattle’s O-line equation. Wilson attempted to walk back some of his winter comments last week, but the franchise QB made the O-line an issue publicly and behind closed doors. Brown moving for more security now makes sense.
Prior to Brown’s arrival, the Seahawks were in their second season without Russell Okung. Brown has provided the team with a reliable left tackle. Despite Brown being 35, Pro Football Focus tabbed him as the league’s fifth-best tackle last season. PFF has slotted Brown as a top-25 tackle in each of his four Seahawks slates. Considering Wilson’s comments and Brown’s recent form, it would not surprise if the Seahawks and Brown agreed on a short- or medium-length extension before the season.
If you look at it like a GM, why would you? What trade value does a 36 year old OL wanting a new contract offer, a 6th? I’d pass on the re-up.
This comment makes no sense. What is your argument? Does he have value to the Seahawks? Absolutely!
He has value and is under contract. That’s the point. The player, at his age, has no leverage.
A player always has a degree of leverage if there is nobody on the depth chart that can fill his shoes but at 36 I agree with you that any pay bump is likely to be a meagre one.
Seattle invest money in the offensive line? Lol ok
The NFL Commissioners Office has initiated an investigation into Card Game cheating that victimizes NFL Players. This cheating against players is the reason that the players are constantly demanding “NEW DEALS” !!
He’s in the last year of his deal and his cap hit is $13.3 million ($11.3 mil not guaranteed + a $2 mil prorated signing bonus paid in 2018), the sixth highest in the league for a LT, per OTC (and the highest he’s ranked as a Seahawk). However, such a cap hit would only rank 14th in the league next year, and 13th in 2023.
The Seahawks are currently $8.3 million under the cap. It would make sense for Seattle to extend him now for two years, through 2023, converting a sizeable chunk of this year’s $10 million salary into a prorated signing bonus, giving them, say, $4 to $6 million of additional cap space this year. I probably wouldn’t guarantee much, if any, of his 2022 and 2023 pay, but I’d make sure his cap hits both years were $20 million or more, which should get him into or on the edge of the top 5 among LT’s each year. With little or no guaranteed dollars after this year, if he plays at an elite level again, convert some of next year’s money into guaranteed bonuses (prorated or not), and so on and so forth until he doesn’t play so well or is ready to retire.