After Orlando Brown signed with the Cincinnati Bengals, the idea went around in places such as Twitter that he took a big loss compared to an extension offer from the Kansas City Chiefs he turned down.
That extension Brown left on the table with the Chiefs was reported as a six-year deal worth $139 million.
With the Bengals, he inked a deal worth $64 million over four years with an immediate $31 million signing bonus.
At face value, that obviously looks like a big disparity. But things are never so simple at face value and especially when it comes to NFL contracts.
Spotrac provided some insight:
In response to those that think Orlando Brown Jr. left a mountain of money on the table last season.
The 6 year, $139M offer from the Chiefs included $57M across 2022-24, $38M fully guaranteed, plus 3 non-guaranteed seasons thereafter.
His 2022 tag + new contract with the…
— Spotrac (@spotrac) March 21, 2023
Over the span of 2022-24, when including a tag, Brown makes more money with the Bengals than he would have with the Chiefs. Only the first three of six years with the Chiefs were guaranteed anyway. After roughly two seasons with the Bengals, he enters prime extension territory again or eventually hits free agency — before turning 30, netting him one more big payday.
As other players have shown recently, a shorter deal can be much more lucrative than a long-term one. Brown is the latest example and overreactions about his contract situation were a tad premature.
