The Kansas City Chiefs have until July 15 to sign left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. to a long-term deal.
If that deadline passes without a deal, Brown will play for Kansas City on the franchise tag in 2022. Brown, 26, will be due $16.7 million if he plays on the tag this season.
After a long search, Brown just signed agent Michael Portner of Delta Sports Group, who will be negotiating his first NFL contract for a player. They have a little over a month to get a deal done if they don’t want Brown to play on the tag.
With the deadline steadily approaching, Brown told Mike Garafolo and Shaun O’Hara on NFL Total Access that he is confident a long-term deal will get done.
“Very confident. Very confident,” Brown said Tuesday. “Especially simply based off the things that have come into effect within our division, the type of defensive ends that have been brought in, the type of players and all of that type of stuff. It’s not the year to go into the season with a backup left tackle. So, I’m very confident that the Kansas City Chiefs will get that done.”
Chiefs OT Orlando Brown "very confident" long-term deal will get worked out: "It’s not the year to go into the season with a backup left tackle. So, I’m very confident that the Kansas City Chiefs will get that done."https://t.co/DteHywtnzP pic.twitter.com/Ii6m57mpbq
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) June 7, 2022
Brown, a three-time Pro Bowler, has made it clear that he wants to remain in Kansas City to protect quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs and Mahomes have echoed that sentiment. But it’s possible Brown enters the season on his one-year tag, which means the Chiefs and Brown would likely wait until after the season to negotiate a deal. That would put things in a state of uncertainty for K.C. and Brown, hence the urgency.
If the two do reach a deal, Chiefs Wire editor Charles Goldman projects Brown to earn around a $20-million-per-year average. Possibly a five-year, $100-ish million extension. However, only a portion of that would be guaranteed — Goldman suggests around $60-70 million. The Chiefs would also have the luxury of balancing the numbers to create comfortable cap hits each year, so a long-term extension would likely relieve some cap space for the Chiefs in 2022.
