Chiefs coach Andy Reid: Nothing in way of long-term deal with LT Orlando Brown Jr.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Now that Orlando Brown Jr. has an agent, Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid doesn’t see anything in the way of the team reaching a contract extension.

“I think he’s got good counsel, so we just have to work through it,” Reid said Thursday during a press conference after the final day of organized team activities, or OTAs. “I don’t see anything that’s going to get in the way there — just have the guys working together, keeping everything open like any other opportunity that you have to do deals with players.”

Reid confirmed that General Manager Brett Veach has been in touch with Brown’s new camp, including agent Michael Portner of the Delta Sports Group, but stressed that such deals seldom come together quickly.

“They’ll keep doing that,” Reid said. “It’s good that he’s taken that step forward for sure.”

The Chiefs wrapped up the third and final week of OTAs on Thursday at the team practice facility at the Truman Sports Complex.

Brown was not in attendance for any of the voluntary workouts, though Reid previously said he was working out in Florida.

The Chiefs acquired Brown from Baltimore before the 2021 NFL Draft in exchange for a package of draft picks.

“We love Orlando here,” Reid said. “He’s a good human being and he’s a good professional. ... I know Orlando has a ton of respect for winning and all that stuff.”

Kansas City used the franchise tag on Brown in March, which guarantees him a nearly $16.7-million payday in 2022, shortly after he fired his previous agent.

The deadline for teams to negotiate a long-term deal with franchise-tagged players is July 15 before the fully guaranteed tag amount gets locked in.

“You just try to do what you have to do to make it right and be as honest as you can,” Reid said of negotiations with any Chiefs player. “We’re quiet about that. We try to do everything with the person we’re involved with and not tell the world about it. That’s how we go about business. Our guys are very honest and deliver it, which is a great way to go and is something that (Chairman and CEO) Clark (Hunt) believes in. Fair for the player, fair for the team, let’s roll — and that can be done with a good working relationship.”

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Brown said Tuesday in an interview on NFL Network’s “Total Access” that he was confident something would get done because the AFC West improved, especially on defense.

“It's not the year to go into the season with a backup left tackle,” Brown said.

Some have construed the comment as denigrating teammates, but Reid didn’t seem worried about the public conversations surrounding the negotiations.

“Listen, there are things that are said,” Reid said. “Then, half of it might not have been really said and, the other half, maybe it was. My thing is you just try to do what you have to do to make it right and be as honest as you can.”

Portner confirmed in an interview with Forbes that Brown hopes to become the NFL’s highest-paid tackle.

San Francisco’s Trent Williams is the highest-paid tackle in the NFL at $23.01 million per season with Green Bay’s David Bakhtiari not far behind ($23 million).

Houston’s Laremy Tunsil ($22 million) is the only other tackle in the NFL whose average annual contract value exceeds $20 million, according to Over the Cap.

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