Chiefs using franchise tag on Orlando Brown would be ‘an option’ again: GM Brett Veach
The Chiefs have a large decision to make by March 7 — next Tuesday.
That’s the NFL’s deadline for teams to use the franchise tag. And the immediate player in Kansas City that comes to mind is left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., who is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent on March 15.
The Chiefs aren’t likely to simply let Brown walk away without evaluating all of their potential courses of action, which could include applying the non-exclusive franchise tag on Brown for a second straight offseason.
“It’s an option,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine. “We went through this path last year, and as always, it’s more beneficial for us to get something done long-term.
“That’s why this season is so important for us, and really this is the start. We’ll have a lot of dialogue. The combine’s great to come in here and check the new college talent, but a lot of the time here, we’re spent talking with the agents of our players. So, we start exchanging information. Unlike last year, I think we have at least a runway to work with and we’ve gotten to know his team a little better.”
Veach brings up a good point. At this time in 2022, Brown didn’t have an agent, but he eventually secured representation in early June, a month before the league-wide deadline for teams to have long-term deals in place. Without such a long-term deal, Brown eventually signed the franchise tag, which paid him a little more than $16 million for the 2022 regular season, during the early days of training camp.
Veach admits Brown having representation this time around should be beneficial for both sides.
“It’s a big deal because I don’t think we started that until really late in the process, and time became a factor there,” Veach said. “I think that’s certainly going to help facilitate things and we’ll just go to work right away and see what we can get done.”
If the Chiefs use the franchise tag on Brown, they will once again have until mid-July for a shot at working out a long-term contract with Brown’s representation. If the two sides can’t work out a deal, Brown could earn up to $20 million under the tag in 2023, provided he signs it.
For his part, Brown said after Super Bowl LVII that he understands the business side of football must run its course. And he expressed faith in his agent to get something done.
“I’ll let them take care of that,” Brown told The Star shortly after the Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles on Feb. 12. “Whenever the time is right, the time is right. That’s not really up to me.”
Brown started all 17 regular-season games last season and was named to his fourth career Pro Bowl, and his second straight in a Chiefs uniform.
This story was originally published February 28, 2023 at 2:25 PM with the headline "Chiefs using franchise tag on Orlando Brown would be ‘an option’ again: GM Brett Veach."
