Orlando Brown Jr. will officially receive franchise tag from KC Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs will be the first team in the 2022 offseason to use the franchise tag. They won’t be the last.

Per Adam Schefter, NFL reporter for ESPN, the Chiefs will be placing the tag on left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. per a tweet on Monday morning. The move was telegraphed well ahead of time and comes as no surprise to Chiefs Kingdom or the rest of the National Football League.

Last week, general manager Brett Veach stated that the team was “likely” going to tag Brown in an effort to give both sides time to work out a long-term contract extension while keeping Brown from reaching free agency. Veach spoke to reporters from the 2022 NFL Combine in Indianapolis and gave an update on Brown and other potential free agents.

The Kansas City Chiefs are the first team to use the franchise tag in 2022 on left tackle Orlando Brown Jr.

Even before Veach’s announcement, the move was highly-anticipated knowing that an extension had not yet been reached for a player who had become so important for the team. The Chiefs gave up a first-round pick to the Baltimore Ravens last spring in order to secure Brown’s services for ’22 and beyond, and letting him walk in free agency would only create a massive hole along an offensive line that was just fixed a year ago.

Despite the need for more time, no one should believe that negotiations for a long-term extension could get dicey in K.C. Brown knows he’s in a good situation—one he asked the Ravens for—as a long-term left tackle protecting the league’s best quarterback on a contender that should be in the Super Bowl conversation most years.

Brown, who will turn 26 in May, has been an ironman performer in his time with the league, having made 16 starts every year for the last four years. He’s made three consecutive Pro Bowls and improved dramatically as the year went on in Kansas City as he acclimated to a new coaching staff and playing style

When the Chiefs lock up Brown, they will have a front line in Brown, Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, and Trey Smith who will be able to play together for years to come all on the same contractual timeline.