An anonymous NFL executive recently praised the Kansas City Chiefs for their conviction in their handling of LT Orlando Brown Jr. this offseason.
The Athletic’s Mike Sando polled executives around the league about what they thought of all 32 NFL team’s additions and losses in free agency over the past several weeks. A comment from one of those executives on the Chiefs’ biggest offseason change was quite intriguing.
Orlando Brown Jr. did not receive the franchise tag from Kansas City and this particular NFL executive credited the Chiefs for that decision.
“I give them credit for not (franchise) tagging Orlando Brown and not spending dollars on him,” an exec said, “because he was probably the weakest link on their line last year. It seems like they figured out as long as you protect Mahomes, nothing else matters. It is probably true.”
It’s hard to envision the Chiefs in a better spot without their two-time Pro Bowl left tackle, but this particular executive seems to suggest addition via subtraction. K.C. didn’t overpay for the player viewed as their weakest link on the offensive line and that’s good business.
The comments from another anonymous executive on Brown Jr. seemed to suggest that the league-wide sentiments on the now-Bengals left tackle are a mixed bag. Even after back-to-back Pro Bowl campaigns, they didn’t view him as a blue-chip left tackle in the NFL.
“Problem is, I think (Brown) is a right tackle,” another exec said. “I think he played his best football in Baltimore’s system because he was protected. In terms of being a true blue-chip left tackle, I don’t see it. But he could look better in Cincy because Burrow gets the ball out faster than (Patrick) Mahomes.”
Everyone that Sando spoke to seemed to feel the Chiefs were in good shape for the future. That said, they didn’t acknowledge that there’s some projection on the offensive line heading into 2023. Jawaan Taylor is coming in and potentially making a switch from right tackle to left tackle, which isn’t a small task. I’d be curious to hear what those same executives thought about that decision alone.
