What’s Next For Chiefs And Orlando Brown Jr.?

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The deadline for teams to complete long-term deals with franchise tagged players fell on Friday, July 15th. With that having come and gone, nothing has changed on the Kansas City Chiefs-Orlando Brown Jr. front. No agreement was reached. The Chiefs reportedly offered a fair deal, as we will mention later. In the meantime, Brown Jr. will now play on the franchise tag in 2022, with hopes of getting a long-term deal done next offseason.

What does this mean for the team? What does this mean for Brown Jr. moving forward? Plus, we will breakdown the reported offer that was given to the blocker and his camp. Let’s kick it off.

The Reported Offer

The offer that the Chiefs apparently placed on the table could be seen as aggressive, so to speak. In total, it would have been a six-year deal for a total of $139 million, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. That would have averaged out to an average salary of $23.16 million per season. Furthermore, Brown Jr. would have received the highest signing bonus of anyone at his position, via NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

No deal between Chiefs and Orlando Brown will get done today, but KC was aggressive.

Its final offer was a six-year, $139 million deal ($23.16M avg) that included a $30.25 million signing bonus and $95 million in first five years.

Both sides hope for new deal after this season.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 15, 2022

Despite the massiveness involved in the offer’s years figure (six) and the total money of the deal, there were a few hiccups. At least from the player’s perspective, some needs were not met by the offer that the Chiefs had given. One of those was the structure of the contract. Reportedly, Schefter mentioned that Brown Jr. would have made $95 million over the first five years of the deal. That means the sixth year would have paid him over $40 million for one season of football. However, that sort of back-loaded structure was not in-line with the player’s preferences. The financial security during the early portion of the offer also appeared to create a snag between the Chiefs and Brown Jr.

How Does This Affect Chiefs?

With no deal reached, this means that Orlando Brown Jr. will play on the franchise tag in 2022, if he indeed signs it. Holdout possibilities could certainly occur. Yet, Brown Jr. recently mentioned that it would be difficult to not have your left tackle play, given the upgrades to the rosters within the AFC West. Whether that means Brown Jr. holds out or not remains to be seen.

From Kansas City’s perspective, they will still be paying him a fair chunk of change this upcoming season. He would make $16.7 million in 2022 while playing on the franchise tag. At the same time, the Chiefs would get more time to evaluate how fluid Brown Jr. can be as a left tackle in this high-octane, fast-paced offense. This player is still relatively low on experience at the position, as a whole.

Say he hypothetically were to hold out, the Chiefs do actually have some reinforcements for the left tackle spot in-house. That does not necessarily mean that it is the perfect solution, either. But, Joe Thuney does have experience at moving around the offensive line. He played left tackle over parts of two seasons during his college football career at NC State. And, Thuney even saw time at the spot with the New England Patriots as well. The Chiefs know they can count on him in a pinch. Though, they likely hope it does not come to that point, especially with how well the offensive line group played late last season.

How Does This Affect Orlando Brown Jr.?

Either way, Brown Jr. will still receive a pretty penny from the Chiefs in 2022. If and when he signs the franchise tag tender, he will make nearly the same amount this season as he would have averaged per year over the first five years of that reported offer. Brown Jr. has a chance to prove Kansas City wrong, to a degree. If he performs well in 2022, the Chiefs may have to offer more money down the line. The team has also been candid about wanting Brown Jr. along for the ride for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, if the blocker continues to build off of a strong finish to 2021, negotiations could get dicier. How could that be? Let’s find out.

Future Negotiations

You could argue that the Chiefs reportedly offered Orlando Brown Jr. a fair deal this offseason. However, there is a definite argument that the player would not have been receiving a fair amount of security during the first few years of the contract. Will the Chiefs be willing to increase their offer or design the contract differently down the line? Or, will Brown Jr. be willing to test the market outside of Kansas City if he believes that he is rising up the ranks at left tackle?

Everybody has a price. The way in which the Chiefs quickly rebuilt their offensive line gives them some potential room to wait. Additionally, not rushing into a front-loaded deal with a player with minimal experience at the position is adequate too. Brown Jr. could ultimately have a price point that is too hefty for Kansas City to reach in the near future. Overall, both sides will take their own gamble for now in 2022. The Chiefs and the player both hope for a tremendous output. We will now wait to see if the franchise tag tender is signed by Orlando Brown Jr.

Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs articles in the coming days. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.

– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.