The Tennessee Titans managed to save themselves a boatload of money by opting to trade wide receiver A.J. Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for picks, one of which they turned into wideout Treylon Burks.
Instead of paying Brown, who got a four-year, $100 million deal ($57 million guaranteed), they’ll now get Burks on a much cheaper rookie contract that is projected to pay him $14.3 million over four years, per Spotrac. That works out to $3.57 million per.
Burks will land a signing bonus of roughly $7.6 million, and his 2022 cap hit will be around $2.6 million. Of course, being that he’s a first-round pick, Burks’ contract will carry a fifth-year option for 2026.
Of general manager Jon Robinson’s seven first-round picks, only two have had their fifth-year options exercised.
Cornerback Adoree’ Jackson was the first, and Robinson ended up releasing him before he played out his final year. In 2022, defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons had his fifth-year option exercised and looks to be on course to becoming Robinson’s first first-round pick to get a second contract from Tennessee.
While the jury is still out on how well the A.J. Brown trade will work out for both sides, what we do know is the Titans need Burks to step up in a big way in his first season.