What national NFL pundits are saying about Chiefs’ trade for Orlando Brown
Some of the naysayers believed the Chiefs’ half-billion contract extension for quarterback Patrick Mahomes last summer would hamstring the team financially going forward.
The thinking was the team wouldn’t be able to add talent to the roster because of the salary cap.
However, the Chiefs later signed tight end Travis Kelce and defensive tackle Chris Jones to extensions. This offseason, they have rebuilt the offensive line.
The most recent move came Friday when the Chiefs worked out details of a trade with Baltimore that brings offensive tackle Orlando Brown to Kansas City.
That was big news around the NFL. Here is a sample of what has been written and said about the trade.
Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk wrote a story with the headline, “Orlando Brown the final piece of Chiefs’ rebuilt offensive line.”
Here is a bit of what he wrote: “The Chiefs are also expecting the return of starting guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who opted out of the 2020 season so that he could work in a nursing home during the COVID-19 pandemic. And 2020 third-round pick Lucas Niang, an offensive tackle who also opted out in 2020, is also expected back.
“With three offensive linemen signed in free agency, two offensive linemen coming back from opt-outs, and now Brown’s arrival in a trade, no team in the NFL has done more to improve its offensive line this offseason than the Chiefs.”
Fansided’s Matt Verderame wrote a story headlined, “The Chiefs got a ridiculous steal with the Orlando Brown trade.”
This is a snippet of what he wrote: “Kansas City was the Super Bowl favorite entering the day. Now? The odds are instantly better. Magic.”
In his weekly “Football Morning In America” column for NBC Sports, Peter King looked into the intricacies of the compensation the Ravens received.
Here is an excerpt of what King wrote Monday: “Once Baltimore knew KC was sincerely interested, it was a matter of determining the value for the player. Not easy. In 2018, Brown was the 83rd pick overall, chosen in the middle of the third round. In his first three NFL seasons, he played right tackle for the Ravens and made two Pro Bowls. But he wanted to play left tackle, and he would need a new contract with his rookie deal expiring after 2021. So a team acquiring him would not only have to pay draft-pick compensation for him, but would have to sign him in 2022 to avoid making a big trade for a guy and then losing him after only a year or two if KC chose to franchise him in 2022.
“Baltimore GM Eric DeCosta and Kansas City GM Brett Veach sought a middle ground. The Ravens thought a pick low in the second round was poor value. Kansas City thought a first-round pick was too rich. So they borderline split the difference.”
Peter Schrager of “Good Morning Football” said Monday on the NFL Network. “I think they’ve done everything you possibly could ask for a front office to do. ... The Chiefs are like, ‘We need to beef up our offensive line.”
Brad Spielberger and Eric Eager of Pro Football Focus wrote a story with the headline, “Examining the Kansas City Chiefs trade for Baltimore Ravens tackle Orlando Brown.”
This is part of what they wrote: “Orlando Brown Jr. has been the fifth-most valuable offensive tackle since entering the league in 2018 out of Oklahoma, earning the same amount of wins above replacement as his teammate Ronnie Stanley, who signed a five-year contract worth almost $100 million during the 2020 season. ...
“When Stanley went down shortly after signing his extension, Brown took over for him at left tackle and was very good in his 700 snaps there. He surrendered no sacks and no quarterback hits in his starts at the position and allowed just 16 pressures overall. He reportedly wants to play left tackle instead of right tackle, which makes sense given the pay disparity between the two positions.“
Kevin Patra of NFL.com wrote about the trade.
Here is a snippet: “After losing Super Bowl LV in part due to offensive line struggles that left Mahomes running for his life, the Chiefs have completely revamped the unit. Brown could be the crown jewel for years to come protecting the MVP quarterback, who let his excitement be known via a quintet of smiley faces on Twitter.”
ESPN’s Max Kellerman was stunned to see the Ravens send Brown to the Chiefs.
USA Today’s Nate Davis picked winners and losers from the trade, and Patrick Mahomes was a big winner.
“Already playing on a badly injured toe in the Super Bowl 55 loss to Tampa Bay, the former league MVP was hit nine times and sacked thrice behind Kansas City’s patchwork line,” Davis wrote. “But Brown appears to (be) the icing on the cake after GM Brett Veach signed O-linemen Joe Thuney, Kyle Long and Austin Blythe. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Lucas Niang are also expected back after opting out in 2020.”
This story was originally published April 26, 2021 at 11:58 AM.
