The Chiefs only have a few more days to extend offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr., but it sounds like a deal won’t materialize before Friday’s deadline. Brown’s camp told NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo (Twitter link) that the sides are nowhere close to a new deal and the player won’t sign an extension “just to do a deal.” Garafolo warns that Brown could miss training camp and even the start of the regular season.
Ever since the Chiefs slapped the offensive lineman with a $16.7MM franchise tag, we’ve heard that the player was seeking a new deal that would make him the NFL’s highest-paid offensive lineman. According to Garafolo, the Chiefs are willing to pay Brown money that would top the right tackle market but not the top of the OL/LT market. Of course, Brown asked for a trade out of Baltimore because of his desire to play left tackle. The Chiefs ended up acquiring him and letting him play his preferred position, so it’s certainly notable that the front office is turning to RT values during negotiations.
The difference in the salaries is significant. Left tackles like Trent Williams, David Bakhtiari and Laremy Tunsil all top $22MM per season. The three highest-paid right tackles (Ryan Ramczyk, Brian O’Neill, Lane Johnson) average a bit more than $18.5MM per season.
Brown hasn’t inked his franchise tender, so he won’t be fined for missing any training camp time. That provides the lineman’s camp with some leverage assuming they truly plan to stage a holdout. As our own Sam Robinson recently pointed out, the Chiefs have just one O-lineman, Joe Thuney, signed to a notable veteran deal, so it would seem the franchise is prepared to give Brown a big-ticket extension. It’ll be interesting to see if the Chiefs front office plays hard ball or extends their budget as they look to focus in on the upcoming campaign.
The two sides have sounded optimistic about a long-term deal throughout the offseason, and the Chiefs have made it clear that they valued Brown as a long-term option during their 2021 OL overhaul. We may have received some hints about a potential holdout earlier this offseason; when asked about the AFC West arrivals of Chandler Jones, Khalil Mack and Randy Gregory, Brown said it is “not the year to go into the season with a backup left tackle.”
The former third-round pick quickly transformed into a starter for the Ravens, and he established himself as a Pro Bowl right tackle in both 2019 and 2020. Last offseason, he was traded (along with a second- and sixth-round pick) to the Chiefs for a first-round selection. During his first season in Kansas City, Brown earned another Pro Bowl selection while appearing in 100 percent of his team’s offensive snaps. Pro Football Focus ranked Brown 28th among 83 qualifying offensive tackles.
Normally I support players getting the most they can while still in their prime, especially with the inflation currently.
But this selfish headcase seems intent on destroying both the Chiefs cap space and Patrick Mahomes’ health as well.
He’s PFFs #28 bc he has slow feet and pathetic lateral movement. He excels at straightfoward run-blocking. But that’s not KCs offense.
I knew when this trade was made, and he blathered about promising his dad, a successful LT, that he would also be a great blindside tackle, that he would be an issue.
I think his father would want him to prove it on the field, not bully a championship caliber team into overspending, thereby hamstringing themselves at other positions.
What a jerk. I’d love to know his teammates’ TRUE opinion of him, especially Mahomes.
Selfish headcase?
Dude, do you stalk me? Every time I post, I can count on some sort of antagonist reply from you. Seems unhealthy.
Yes, selfish headcase…
Selfish, in that he wants no1 left tackle pay, despite barely being in the top half of starting LTs.
That ranking itself is arbitrary since the metrics of pressure and sacks are reduced by the elusiveness skills of the QB he’s supposed to protect. Mahomes, himself, prevents most of his sacks… anticipating pressure before it’s graded as “pressure” and moves out of the pocket to throw on a rollout or scramble for ground yards. KC is one of the easiest LT jobs in the NFL, much like Baltimore, now Denver, Philadelphia and Buffalo.
Headcase in the sense he believes he best serves his team as LT, simply by thinking or wanting it. He wants to be allowed to dazzle us with his toreador pass-blocking… chasing Joey Bosa and TJ Watt with outstretched arms… while KC’s half-billion-dollar QB runs for his life.
…and he thinks he deserves a cut of that half-billion? Headcase
Lol. I didn’t even remember seeing your user name before. Maybe you just regularly seem unhinged.
That he thinks he should be paid as the NFL’s highest paid offensive lineman, is a joke. I’d play hardball and if he decides to walk, so be it. Cut your losses but don’t give in to this bullying, self-over-valuing loudmouth.
Pay the man, pay him. He has earned it.
I hope KC pays him $25M a year, long term, and guaranteed.
Break the bank young man.
Yup…whole reason KC traded quite a bit for him was to protect patty and now they wanna be cheap. While he shouldn’t get #1 LT money, he still should be paid in the top 5. He’s got 3 pro bowls to show for it. KC wants to go cheap, there’s plenty of teams that will pay him and patty can get blasted some more from his blind side again.
He doesn’t want Top 5 he wants a to be No 1
Lol, thanks for the first round pick, bros.
Same reason they traded Hill. Good players? Yes but they aren’t top at their position asking to be the highest paid is asking for too much in these situations.