Why new Chiefs WR Hollywood Brown took less money to play with KC, Patrick Mahomes
Free-agent receiver Hollywood Brown knows this much: The Kansas City Chiefs were motivated to add him this offseason.
Brown, who officially signed with KC on Monday, said he spoke to his agent often in recent weeks about the Chiefs continually checking in on him.
“When the Chiefs are interested in you, it’s like, ‘All right.’ You gotta take a look at that,” Brown said. “Of course I can go get some money at other places, but at the end of the day, it’s about winning.”
Brown agreed to a one-year deal with the Chiefs for $7 million that could reach as high as $11 million with incentives.
But could he have gotten more elsewhere?
The contract might appear low for a receiver of Brown’s stature, especially given this year’s market for wideouts. Pro Football Focus, for example, predicted Brown (their 17th-ranked free agent) would receive a one-year, $12 million pact.
So, Brown was asked Monday, did he turn down some money for an opportunity to play with the Super Bowl champion Chiefs?
“There was other opportunities out there for sure,” Brown said. “But I’m happy with the decision. I’m happy with where I’m at.”
The 26-year-old Brown expanded on his choice from there. He described himself as a “kid that comes from nothing” before explaining that “the amount of money I’ve made so far in my life is a blessing to me.”
“But I’m a football player. I want to play football. I want to win,” Brown said. “I want to be a part of the winning. And that’s why I’m here.”
Brown will certainly be a welcome fit in KC. The speedster should serve as a field-stretcher for the Chiefs while solidifying a receiving corps that struggled with drops and consistency last season.
Brown had 51 catches for 574 yards in 14 games for Arizona last season while battling ailments most of the year. His best campaign with Baltimore was in 2021, as he caught 91 passes for 1,008 yards with six touchdowns.
“Being in this (Chiefs’) system, I feel I’ll be able to showcase my skill set. I still feel like there’s a lot of my game that I really haven’t gotten to show people,” Brown said. “And that’s probably what I’m excited about the most being here, is to just put my best foot forward and show what I can do.”
Specifically, Brown feels he can have an impact in all three areas of the field: short, intermediate and deep. While he believed he showed flashes of what he could do with Baltimore and Arizona, it didn’t come through enough.
“I know the caliber of player that I can be and that I am,” Brown said. “And I knew that if I was to come here, it could be a big impact for the team and some element that they need.”
Mahomes will begin building chemistry with Brown as soon as this week. Brown said he was heading to Texas in the next few days to take throws from his new QB.
Brown admitted Monday that playing with Mahomes was a “big part” of why he ultimately picked the Chiefs.
“From the outside looking in, it just seems like a guy that is very passionate. And I’m a very passionate person who wants to win, do everything necessary to win,” Brown said. “And that’s somebody you want to play with.”
Brown, who went to college at Oklahoma, was selected by the Ravens as the 25th pick of the 2019 NFL Draft. He said the Chiefs staff did so much pre-draft work on him then that he was convinced KC was going to take him.
The Chiefs ended up without a first-round pick that particular year after trading for defensive end Frank Clark.
Brown ultimately made his way back to KC, saying Monday that “the world’s got a way of having things come around like that.”
“Kansas City was a place that I told (my agent) that I wanted to be, if that was the opportunity. And it kind of just unfolded,” Brown said. “I let him do his job, and God made it happen.”
