The Cincinnati Bengals made the biggest move of the new league year as they agreed to a four-year, $64.09 million deal with former Kansas City Chiefs forward Orlando Brown Jr., CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones confirmed. According to NFL Media, the contract is front-loaded and includes a signing bonus north of $31 million — the largest ever awarded to an offensive lineman.
Brown chose the Bengals over signing with the Steelers or Jets because, according to his agent, the guaranteed money in Cincinnati’s long haul put him over the top.
“I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to carry on my father’s legacy and take on the role of left tackle,” Brown said in a statement to NFL Media. “It was important to be able to play in that position and play for a winning team and a winning quarterback. Who day!”
Brown wanted to play left tackle, and this deal is for him to play left tackle. It appeared the Chiefs could use the franchise tag on him for the second straight season, but they opted instead to sign former Jacksonville Jaguars tackle Jawan Taylor – which according to multiple reports was to make the transition to left tackle. can be prepared for. That addition prompted Brown’s exit, and he now lands with another AFC contender.
It has always been important for Brown to play left tackle, even though some teams do not view him as one.
Brown told The Baltimore Sun in 2020, “Growing up in my household if you were going to play O-line, my dad didn’t want you to be on the right side.”
“It was one of those deals where he realized that right tackle — and especially at the time he played — he realized that right tackle was not considered the best tackle on the offensive line and in the offensive line room. And His mindset and attitude were, ‘I want you to be better than me.’ So from day one, when I started playing offensive line, he was always working me on the left side.”
While Brown’s new AAV of $16.02M keeps him outside the top 10 of highest-paid left tackles, here’s what matters: NFL Media reports that 67.87% of his $64.092M is fully guaranteed.
Orlando Brown, the son of the late Baltimore Ravens, was selected by his father’s team in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma. He was dealt to Kansas City before the 2021 season, as he wanted to make the full-time switch to left tackle. In two years with the Chiefs, Brown earned Pro Bowl honors twice, and of course a Super Bowl ring last February.