The Kansas City Chiefs received some not-so-great news on Friday when it was announced that new wide receiver Hollywood Brown would be headed to IR to get surgery on his shoulder for the injury he sustained on his first catch of the preseason.
Not only is this a significant loss for Kansas City as Brown was going to be a big part of the offense, but there's even more of a sting factor given everything seemed to be pointing towards Hollywood possibly returning in the next few weeks as head coach Andy Reid had been complimenting his progress and the fact Kansas City didn't place him on IR right away led most to believe that he would be back sooner than later.
However, Jordan Schultz, NFL Insider for Bleacher Report, stated that upon further examination, Brown's shoulder was not healing correctly and would require surgery. Adam Schefter of ESPN followed up this report on Saturday morning, stating that Brown is not expected to return for the 2024 regular season.
While we don't know if that means a return for the playoffs is feasible, the uncertainty of when or if Hollywood Brown will return now puts the Kansas City Chiefs in a difficult situation as Brown was supposed to be the big veteran free agent addition to the wide receiver room that raised the floor. Now, with him out of the picture for the foreseeable future, things get a little scary.
A lot of the load on offense will now be transferred to first- and second-year receivers Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice. While the offense still looks functional on paper based on what we saw in week one against the Baltimore Ravens, it now becomes very inexperienced and a lot closer to the wide receiver situation the Chiefs had last year.
Extending an injured player might seem counter-intuitive, but the reasons to think about keeping Brown around are quite simple.
Regardless, the Chiefs are going to have to navigate this wide receiver situation without Hollywood Brown. With the possibility being out there that he could miss the entire season, it presents the challenge of having to not only replace Brown's production that he would've had, but his experience, too. Given that he was only on a one-year deal this season, it means that the Kansas City Chiefs likely will have to explore the veteran free agent market for an experienced veteran yet again next offseason if they want to have a floor-raising veteran on the roster.
This is exactly why the Kansas City Chiefs should be trying to extend Hollywood Brown right now.
Some may be thinking, "Huh?". Why would you extend a player who hasn't done anything yet and may miss the rest of the season? The logic is pretty simple. Hollywood Brown originally came to Kansas City on a one-year deal to try and boost his stock with a contender, put up big numbers playing with Patrick Mahomes, and then potentially cash in next offseason with a big contract.
Obviously, whatever numbers Brown was hoping to hit this year probably aren't happening. Not only does that lower Brown's stock, but it means that he also isn't going to hit most of the incentives that were written in his contract. Unfortunately for Brown, he's likely going to be in the same position next offseason as he was this past offseason where he has to sign a one-year deal with someone in hopes of proving himself.
If Kansas City isn't going to see hardly any return on their one-year investment, why not go ahead and tack another year onto his deal (and pay him back some of those unlikely-to-be-earned incentives as guaranteed money) if they like Brown? It makes all the sense in the world to extend Brown now and get him for a great value while also giving him some security. He's probably not going to get a better deal or have a better situation than he has right now in Kansas City.
The Chiefs' receiving corps is still very young as the top two options lack experience and maturity. Even if Hollywood Brown hadn't gotten hurt, the team probably would've preferred to retain him if possible. At the very least, the Chiefs would likely plan to bring in another inexpensive veteran to keep that floor in place so that a situation like 2023 doesn't happen again—where you have that insurance if the young receivers aren't progressing fast enough or even regress some which we've seen happen before. For those reasons, holding onto Brown is a no-brainer if you can get him for a great value.
There may be some pushback from a few people as we didn't even get to see what Brown can do, and it would be just a bit of a risk to hand out a new contract to a player who hasn't played. Not to mention Brown has struggled with injuries enough as it is throughout his career which makes for a "buyer beware" situation for some. But it's not like Kansas City would give him a multi-year deal and they would have the leverage going in.
By all accounts, Brown was having a very good training camp and was slated to be a big part of Kansas City's deep passing game that they have sorely missed over the past couple of seasons. Once again, if the team really likes Brown and what he brings as a deep-ball threat then there shouldn't be too much worry that he couldn't bring that again for one more year if he's going to sit out most of this one. Brown's track record of solid production is enough for most to be comfortable pulling the trigger on a one-year extension.
Losing Brown for the season or even just the regular season hurts and is a negative for Kansas City, but this is an opportunity to turn a negative into a positive by taking advantage of the situation at hand to secure Brown for beyond this season. It would give all parties peace of mind while we wait for Brown to recover from his injury and maybe return in time for the postseason.