How the Chiefs pursued (and landed) WR Hollywood Brown should become their model
Brett Veach sat inside a hotel conference room in Henderson, Nevada, four days before the Chiefs would win their third Super Bowl this era.
The general manager was in the midst of recapping how they’d arrived there yet again, how they’d sustained success even while paying their quarterback half a billion, when he landed on this:
“It’s identifying your priorities, trying to make them work, and then letting free agency unfold,” Veach said. “Because you can’t just go out there and spend money that you don’t have.”
Wasn’t just a recap.
It’s a model.
The past and the future.
The Chiefs landed receiver Marquise Brown, better known as Hollywood, late Thursday on a one-year deal worth $7 million that could grow to $11 million with incentives, a source confirmed to The Star.
It could also grow into a potential bargain, while absent much potential risk because few one-year deals offer much risk. But the most important note is the timing.
After the first wave had cleared. Or after, as Veach put it, “letting free agency unfold.”
The Chiefs sat idle, patient in a league typically driven by urgency, as the Titans scooped the top-of-the-market receiver (Calvin Ridley) on the first day of free agency for $50 million guaranteed. And as the Falcons, Jaguars and Bills handed out multiyear contracts to other wideouts, beating the Chiefs to the checkout counter for agreements that range from $15 to $26 million guaranteed.
The Chiefs pounced on the afterthought.
That’s the model in the era of this Mahomes (and now Chris Jones) contract.
It started a year ago, when the Chiefs didn’t actually establish plans to put the majority of their (limited) resources into the defense yet added linebacker Drue Tranquill, defensive end Charles Omenihu and safety Mike Edwards. But when Tranquill and Edwards remained available later into free agency than they anticipated, and therefore cheaper than they anticipated, the Chiefs saw opportunity.
A year later, Brown is not the exception. He is Part Two to a rule that should become permanent.
As a frenzy takes over the first days of NFL free agency every mid-March, the best deals follow patience, not precede the frenzy.
The Chiefs were forced into the wait-and-see free agency strategy by the evergreen tightening of their salary cap space. In that way, this gap in the market chose them. They couldn’t have afforded the Ridley sweepstakes even if they had wanted to be a participant.
But the requirement to be more prudent with cash than their counterparts has made them better with it. Brown will get paid half what Buffalo is paying Curtis Samuel, and on two fewer seasons. Brown will get paid just one-third of what Tennessee is paying Ridley, and with just 14% of the guarantees. Ridley comes with the better resume. He’s the better route-runner, the better separator, the more adept playmaker. But those aren’t the comparison to make. The cost for the production is. And 14%? Is there an argument over the better deal?
Look, Brown really wanted to play in Kansas City. That helps. He also wanted a chance, after missing eight games in the past two seasons, to re-establish his value next year, when he’ll still be just 27 years old. That helps, too.
But the Chiefs helped themselves most, waiting for the majority of the wide receiver-desperate teams to act a little more, well, desperate, while they avoided the urge. Because even after winning their third Super Bowl in five years, the Chiefs are one of those receiver-needy teams. They entered free agency this week with Justin Watson as the clear-cut No. 2 and, uh, Skyy Moore (?) as the No. 3.
Brown is no sure thing, in the way that no NFL player is a sure thing, but also in ways we have to acknowledge. He hasn’t reached the potential that made him a late first-round pick out of Oklahoma in 2019. His catch percentage (the proportion of his targets he hauled in) dipped significantly to 54.3% last year, the lowest among the 41 receivers who were targeted at least 90 times. Those will improve with better quarterback play, but he has to do some of the improving too. He doesn’t have the production of a star.
The Chiefs, though are not paying him like an established All-Pro. The risk here is on Brown to make a jump at 26 years old, not with a team paying him as though he already has.
Brown, who ran a 4.27 40-yard dash at his Oklahoma pro day ahead of the 2019 NFL Draft, can play in the slot or outside the hashes. The Chiefs will certainly ask him to do both.
He will likely help fill a stretch-the-field role that the Chiefs covet in their offense, but to assume that’s his sole role is misguided. Marquez Valdes-Scantling, released last month, played 618 snaps last season, just four fewer than team leader Rashee Rice, despite just 21 catches. You’d like to think Brown could at least eclipse that output, both in receptions and in the type of usage. Valdes-Scantling proved a one-dimensional deep threat player, though “threat” is being used too loosely there. Brown is more than a downfield option. (But speaking of players compensated more than Brown will be, add Valdes-Scantling to that list.)
His size (5-foot-9) will always be a hindrance, but the speed can be game-changing. The reason for his draft status five years ago remains there today — the talent that made him a 1,000-yard receiver in 2021.
The Chiefs are banking they get that out of him again — well, except without breaking the bank to do it.
This story was originally published March 15, 2024 at 10:02 AM.