Booyah! We signed Orlando Brown

[Bengals1181]

Willie Lutz
@willie_lutz
·
1h
Watching Orlando Brown Jr on Get Up right now, keeps mentioning how fired up he is to play for the #Bengals alongside Joe Burrow.

Brown Jr has been a starting tackle for two quarterbacks during their MVP seasons (Lamar Jackson in '19, Patrick Mahomes in '22).

[Bengals1181]

Jeff Kerr
@JeffKerrCBS
·
Feb 20
Orlando Brown allowed just 1 pressure on 31 pass blocking snaps in Super Bowl LVII.

Brown is the only tackle to make the Pro Bowl in each of the past 4 seasons.

[Bengals1181]

Orlando Brown Jr. takes Bengals’ protection of Joe Burrow to the next level
Football: Kansas City Chiefs Orlando Brown (57) in action vs Cleveland Browns at Arrowhead Stadium. Kansas City, MO 9/12/2021 CREDIT: David E. Klutho (Photo by David E. Klutho/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (Set Number: X163794 TK1)
By Paul Dehner Jr.
Mar 15, 2023

60
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The Bengals weren’t sitting out free agency, they were building up to something big.

Cincinnati unleashed a thunderous first external free-agent signing late Wednesday night, agreeing to terms with Chiefs offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. on a four-year deal for $64 million, according to team sources.

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Brown, 26, a four-time Pro Bowler, is the No. 8-ranked free agent in The Athletic’s top 150 and played on the franchise tag for the Chiefs last season. Brown spent his first three seasons playing right tackle in Baltimore before being traded to Kansas City amid a desire to play left tackle like his father, Orlando Brown Sr.

He excelled at both and now steps into a lucrative, long-term role protecting Joe Burrow.

How he fits

Brown is likely to take over at left tackle, an important element of the deal for him. That spot is held down by Jonah Williams, in the fifth-year option season of his rookie deal worth a guaranteed $12.6 million. The Bengals will have to figure out a plan with his next move but have Brown, Cordell Volson, Ted Karras and Alex Cappa all locked up for multiple years. La’el Collins is still under contract, but the Bengals would save $6.3 million with a release. He suffered an ACL injury in late December and turns 30 this year.
2023 impact

The Bengals rarely take the big swing to go for it but did just that. They retained their entire coaching staff, 21 of 25 starters and now added a powerful layer of protection to a line they already successfully overhauled last season in free agency. To add Brown, arguably the best tackle available, for merely $16 million per season serves as a valuable asset to keep Joe Burrow clean with all his talented receivers still under contract.
History

Taking Brown from the Chiefs makes the move all the more spicy. The Bengals and Chiefs have played in the last two AFC Championship Games, with Brown starting at left tackle in both for Kansas City.

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Arguably the best rivalry in the AFC just got more interesting and took a page out of Yankees-Red Sox with Brown coming to the other side.
Cap update

The Bengals entered free agency with cap space and had only a three-year, $21 million deal with Germaine Pratt on the books. The structure allows the Bengals to take advantage of a low cap number for whatever Burrow’s contract extension will be this year and next season. Brown will receive a $31 million signing bonus and $42.3 million through year two, allowing flexibility in space in the back end of the four years.
go-deeper

GO DEEPER

Retaining Germaine Pratt allows Bengals to maintain linebacker continuity
Outlook

The Bengals were already a contender, returning nearly every impactful piece from a team that won the AFC in 2021 and narrowly lost in the conference championship game last season. Keeping Burrow upright in key moments was the difference between them potentially winning back-to-back championships. Brown solidifies that a group once focused on just being average could become one of the best in the league.

https://theathletic.com/4314893/2023...ampaign=601983

[alleycat]

Jesse Newell
@jessenewell
·
Dec 25, 2022
Over the last six weeks, here are the highest-graded tackles in the NFL in pass blocking, via @PFF
. This is out of 112 tackles.

One important thing to remember Is that Brown played a lot of right tackle for the Ravens, so he may have just been taking some time to settle in and get his groove at LT again. Bodes well.

[Bengals1181]

Pete Prisco
@PriscoCBS
·
2m
Signing Orlando Brown by the Bengals is big for that line. He’s not the best in the league, but he’s an upgrade over Jonah Williams. Burrow will be much better protected if that line stays healthy.

[Bengals1181]

[Bengals1181]

Ross Tucker
@RossTuckerNFL
·
9m
So Orlando Brown got $4M less per year and $17M less guaranteed in Cincinnati than the Chiefs gave Jawaan Taylor?

Do we know if the Chiefs offered him that deal and he turned it down?

Or did KC prefer moving Taylor from RT to LT over keeping Orlando Brown at LT?

Strange.

[alleycat]

I think Brown was pissed they made him play on the tag. I was watching some footage of him and saw how amped he got during the games. I also watched that interview this morning. I think this guy is passionate, and takes stuff personally. Glass eater?

[Bengals1181]

Jake Liscow
@JakeLiscow
·
1m
Pollack on Brown via @DLInTheTrenches
: "He's long, he's broad, and he uses his length... being able to play with length in pass protection is invalauble... makes life so much easier, puts you more in control... you're less reactionary to the defender."

[Bengals1181]