On Tuesday, a source close to the Kansas City Chiefs told NFL Network’s Jeffri Chadiha that the team is not happy with how contract negotiations with left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. went last week. The 26-year-old Brown is expected to spend the 2022 campaign on the franchise tag worth $16 million after he left a hefty contract offer from the Chiefs on the table.
Chadiha reports the Chiefs were expecting to work with Brown on a long-term deal that would also be team friendly. Instead, Kansas City was met with high demands from Brown’s camp to make the star left tackle the highest-paid player at his position.
“There was frustration, and there was disappointment,” said Chadiha. “They really like Orlando Brown Jr. They love having him be a part of this team, but the money he was asking for was just too high for them. They felt like they didn’t want to not have stability at left tackle here, but they also didn’t want to pay top-of-the-market money for a player they don’t think is the best player at his position in the NFL.”
“One [Chiefs] front office person said, “This isn’t the same guy that we traded for.” The feeling there is that when they got him from Baltimore that he was going to be a team player and work with them on a team-friendly type of deal, and that was not the case.”
After Brown first arrived in Kansas City via a trade with Baltimore last season, he went on to have a Pro Bowl as the Chiefs finished the 2021 NFL season a win short of making the Super Bowl. During the offseason, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said extending Brown long-term would be a priority going into 2022.
Hours before the 3 p.m. deadline to sign players on the franchise tag last Friday, the Chiefs offered Brown a six-year deal worth $139 million with a $30.25 million signing bonus and $95 million paid in the first five years. Browns reportedly did not take the deal saying there was not enough security through the contract’s lifetime.
As training camp begins next week, the Chiefs are expected to start without their starting left tackle, and it could be a while before they see number 57 any time soon.
