According to the man who turned down the contract, the New York Jets offered former Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl champion left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. big money in NFL free agency this spring.
“The best situation in the world right now for me is Cincinnati,” Brown told the Cincinnati Bengals Talk podcast during an exclusive interview on August 23, revealing: “There [were] a few other teams involved — especially the New York Jets, was the other option as well. They were kinda going through things with Aaron Rodgers trying to figure all of that out, and honestly they had a better price, but ultimately man, this was the best situation for me.”
Considering the Cincinnati Bengals ended up inking the blindside blocker on a four-year, $64 million-plus contract ($16 million-plus per season), the implication here from Brown is that the Jets offered him more — whether annually, overall or both.
“Oh, definitely,” he confirmed when asked if he had higher offers. “It’s never been about the money for me necessarily. It’s about being respected by the organization and on top of being respected by my organization, continuing to carry on my legacy. What I leave behind in this game is most important to me. When people talk about Orlando Brown 30 years from now, hopefully they talk about how great of a guy I was, how awesome of a football player I was, and how many Super Bowls I was able to be a part of.”
Orlando Brown Jr. Might Have Replaced Jets Current LT Duane Brown in Free Agency
It’s hard to fault Brown for choosing Joe Burrow over the possibility of Rodgers. One was a sure thing in March, the other was far from it.
Still, this quote tells us Jets fans that the front office was actively looking for an upgrade at offensive tackle — and it would have made sense to replace Duane Brown with Orlando.
Duane Brown turns 38 on August 30, and no matter how many times head coach Robert Saleh raves about him, most fans no better than to trust an NFL starter at that age. By comparison, Orlando Brown just turned 27 in May. That’s an age gap of nearly 11 years.
The Jets also had an “out” in Duane Brown’s contract heading into the offseason. If they decided to move on from the veteran, they would have saved a little over $9.705 million in cap space — which would have helped with Orlando Brown’s payday. There was a larger $4.728 million dead cap charge that would have come due in 2024 according to Over the Cap, but general manager Joe Douglas could have navigated that without too much trouble next spring.
Orlando Brown is also better than Duane Brown at this stage of their respective careers. Some doubted that the younger of the two should continue playing left tackle at the NFL level — rather than the RT position he excelled at from 2018 through 2020 — but he put those doubts aside in 2022.
Helping protect Patrick Mahomes II during the Chiefs’ latest Super Bowl run, Orlando Brown was graded at a 77.2 in pass protection and 69.1 as a run blocker (Pro Football Focus). He was charged with four sacks and 47 quarterback pressures.
Duane Brown was on par with Orlando as a pass protector last year, with one sack allowed and 23 QB pressures in about 400 less snaps (72.3 grade), but he was much worse in the run game with marks of 44.4 on the ground. The former is also coming off shoulder surgery.
Younger, more well-rounded, healthier and a potential long-term solution — no offense to Duane Brown, but that’s any easy choice for Douglas if the deal gets done in free agency.
Injury Update on Jets LT Duane Brown Ahead of Preseason Finale vs. Giants
Duane Brown was indeed activated off the PUP list on August 23. On the final day of training camp (Aug. 24), he even warmed up with his teammates for the first time all summer.
Later, Brown took part in some position drills at left tackle (video courtesy of The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt). Rookie Joe Tippmann (knee) was out there for those drills as well.
Duane Brown in position drills (along with Joe Tippmann):
“He’s going to get a little bit more, a little more integration into practice,” Saleh said ahead of Thursday’s session. “Could be with us, could be on the side [rehab area], but he’s working.”
Brown is still expected to return in time for Week 1 but will not play during the preseason finale with the New York Giants. Either Billy Turner or Max Mitchell will start on the blindside in his place, with Mekhi Becton staying put at first-team right tackle vs. Big Blue.
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$64 Million Free Agent Admits Jets Offered ‘Better Price’