The Kansas City Chiefs appear prepared to move on from Orlando Brown Jr. at left tackle.
KC has agreed to terms with Jacksonville tackle Jawaan Taylor on a four year, $80 million deal, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, including $60 million guaranteed.
The Chiefs recently did not put a franchise tag on Brown, who had been their left tackle for the last two seasons. That opened Brown up to all 32 teams in negotiations.
And though Taylor has primarily played right tackle in his NFL career — 4,282 snaps at that position, compared to 18 at left tackle — The Star’s Sam McDowell reports the Chiefs believe Taylor is athletic enough to make the switch to the left side.
Taylor, 25, was ranked the 16th-best free agent available this offseason by Pro Football Focus. His greatest strength was his pass blocking, as he allowed just 21 pressures in 19 games last season.
The run-blocking hasn’t been as impressive thus far. Taylor’s 39.7 PFF grade in that aspect was lowest among all tackles who played 80% of their team’s snaps in 2022.
The Chiefs acquired Taylor on a day they lost their other starting tackle, as Andrew Wylie agreed to a three-year deal with the Washington Commanders.
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said two weeks ago at the NFL Scouting Combine that Lucas Niang, who sat out last season with injury, was an in-house candidate at right tackle for next season. Niang started nine games for the Chiefs at that spot in 2021.
The Taylor news was reported on the first day of the NFL’s two-day negotiation period ahead of the league’s new calendar year, which begins Wednesday at 3 p.m. Central Time. Taylor’s contract won’t be official until then.
