The outlook surrounding contract talks with the Kansas City Chiefs and Orlando Brown Jr. has gone from optimistic to pessimistic in a matter of days. Here is where the problem lies — both sides feel as if they have a lot of leverage in the situation.
Orlando Brown Jr. feels like he has the leverage to “not do a deal for the sake of doing a deal.” He wants a contract that resets the market (reportedly with per-year averages of around $25 million) and makes him the highest-paid left tackle in the game. Why does he feel he has this leverage? He believes he’s worth it, but he also knows what the Chiefs gave up to get him (four picks, including a first-rounder, also receiving a second-rounder in return). He has gone on record saying that, it’s “not the year to go into the season with a backup left tackle.” He clearly feels that the slate of opponents for Kansas City (plus the fact that the team has a half-billion-dollar quarterback that needs protection) might work in his favor here.
The Chiefs feel like they have the leverage to wait to sign Brown Jr. to a long-term deal if necessary or even at all. The newest CBA made it very difficult for players to truly hold out into the season without effectively burning money. He can sit out of training camp by avoiding signing his franchise tag, but once they get into the regular season, he’d begin forfeiting that fully-guaranteed salary on the franchise tag.
With this deadlock in a battle of leverage, let’s take a look at all the options that the Chiefs currently have in their playbook: