Three important questions for Chiefs and Orlando Brown Jr.’s future
By Matt Conner
What’s with the public posturing for the Chiefs?
The past few days have been very interesting overall, but specifically in terms of the media’s response to what the Kansas City Chiefs had to offer Brown and the resulting feelings from the failed contract negotiations.
Over the last few days, nearly every single aspect of the Chiefs’ proposed deal to Brown has been leaked. Various reporters have gotten wind of the signing bonus, the length, the average annual value, the potential outs, etc. This has allowed fans and analysts to put together the likely overall layout of the deal and then compare those results to the rest of the league’s offensive tackles.
On Tuesday, things got even more interesting when NFL reporter Jeffri Chadiha quoted a “front office person” from the Chiefs saying that Brown is “not the same guy we traded for.” To be clear, the Chiefs are fine with his on-field performance, but the quote, per Chadiha, was related to his attitude or posture toward a deal. In short, the Chiefs thought he’d leave something on the table as a concession to the team’s ability to stay competitive.
Think about the following: How much of this sort of media stirring normally makes its way out of Arrowhead? The answer is “not much.” Remember this: Chadiha, like any reporter, is going to describe his source in a very careful way. If it’s a fuzzy source, a secondhand recollection, then you might tread something like “a source close to the team” or “an inside source says.” Instead, Chadiha points to the front office and says, “I got it there.”
Who does it help to read the terms of the deal to be able to compare it? And who is thrown under the bus by the sorts of comments given to Chadiha? There’s some rare public posturing on the part of the Chiefs (or someone within the Chiefs) and it’s an attempt to do something. The likely bet is that the Chiefs want to push Brown into a more humble negotiating position going forward—or at least shame him in such a way that he knows he’s gotta make good sooner than later and get into training camp. But this only creates another important question…