Chiefs left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. played the 2022 season on a franchise tender and is slated to become an unrestricted free agent on March 15.
Brown said before the Super Bowl that he’d like to stay with Kansas City but he understands that it’s a business. And head coach Andy Reid said after winning Super Bowl LVII that he anticipates the Chiefs to make a “strong attempt” at keeping Brown.
During his Combine press conference this week, General Manager Brett Veach said Kansas City could franchise Brown again, though Veach and Brown’s representation have been talking about a long-term deal.
“We went through this path last year,” Veach said. “As always, it’s more beneficial for us to get something done long-term. That’s why this season is so important for us and really this is the start.
“We’ll have a lot of dialogue, as you know, the Combine is great to come in here and check out the new college talent, but a lot of the time here is spent talking with the agents of our players, so start exchanging information. Now unlike last year, I think we have at least a runway to work with. We’ve gotten to know his team a little bit better. We’re excited to get that process started here and hopefully, we can get something figured out.”
One significant difference from last year to this year is that Brown now has an agent. He didn’t hire one until early June of 2022, which hindered the progress the Chiefs could make early in the offseason on striking a new deal.
“Yeah, I mean it’s a big deal because I don’t think we started that until really late in the process and time became a factor there, so I think that’s certainly going to help facilitate things,” Veach said. “We’ll just go to work right away and see what we can get done.”
Kansas City acquired Brown from Baltimore in the 2021 offseason. He’s started 33 games over the last two seasons for the club.