Report: KC Chiefs Sign Marquise 'Hollywood' Brown to Free Agent Contract
In the early stages of the NFL offseason, the Kansas City Chiefs had been relatively quiet. On Thursday night, general manager Brett Veach broke his silence in a major way. The reigning Super Bowl champions are adding some serious firepower on offense, giving quarterback Patrick Mahomes a dangerous receiving threat.
The Kansas City Chiefs are signing free agent wide receiver Marquise "Hollywood" Brown to a one-year contract worth up to $11 million, according to Ian Rapoport. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reports that it's a one-year, $7 million deal.
Shortly after the news broke, Brown took to Twitter/X to celebrate:
Blessed Beyond Measures…
ChiefsKingdom Let’s Rock 🚨🚀
Brown, who turns 27 in June, has had a bit of an up-and-down career to this point. The 2019 first-round pick burst onto the scene with the Baltimore Ravens, peaking in 2021 when he hauled in 91 passes for 1,008 yards and six touchdowns. The former Oklahoma standout was later traded to the Arizona Cardinals, spending two years in the desert. In those seasons combined, he posted a stat line of 118 receptions, 1,283 yards and seven scores in 26 games.
A smaller receiver in stature, Brown is a speedy weapon who specializes in threatening defenses down the field. He's put up a double-digit average depth of target in each of his five seasons thus far, spending about 71% of his time out wide and 29% in the slot. He thrived against man coverage this past season, averaging 1.96 yards per route run.
Courtesy of FOX4's Harold Kuntz, Brown posted a screenshot of a recruiting text from Chiefs head coach Andy Reid:
Joshua Brisco and I recently discussed Brown's potential value on the open market in relation to the Chiefs. With average annual salary estimates from Pro Football Focus ($12M) and Spotrac ($14.8) in mind, here's what Brisco had to say:
Brisco: Those numbers feel low, right? I'd be a little surprised if he chooses a one-year deal, since I would imagine he'll have multi-year deals available, and sub-$15 million annually would feel like a bargain. The Chiefs signed Valdes-Scantling to a three-year, $30 million deal that was really more like two years, $18 million, including $2 million in dead money in 2024. I'd give Brown a more premium version of that deal without much hesitation, especially as the wide receiver market thins out in free agency.
Seth Keysor of The Chief in the North newsletter also broke down Brown's game and is a proponent of his fit in Kansas City:
Brown is a smaller receiver, but he has terrific speed and quickness and is a better route runner than he gets credit for. He’s a more dangerous deep threat than the departed MVS, and even more importantly has also shown significantly more ability to separate against man coverage at the intermediate and shallow levels than MVS ever showed. In other words, his role in the offense wouldn’t be one-dimensional the same way MVS’s was, and he could serve as a good counter to the man coverage looks teams tried to slow down the Chiefs with in 2023. In short, Brown’s skillset matches up nicely with a lot of what Reid likes to run, and also is a good complement to Rice and Kelce in terms of being able to win in different ways (as Rice learns to beat man coverage more consistently).
With Brown, the Chiefs are getting someone who can take the top off opposing defenses and add a new dynamic back into the offense. He'll work as a lethal running mate for Rashee Rice, who broke out as a rookie but also performed a lot of basic concept work and relied heavily on yards after the catch. While neither Brown nor Rice is a prototypical No. 1 receiver, having two high-end complements to tight end Travis Kelce should help maintain a more fluid attack. As Kansas City attempts to get back to being a top offense in the league, the first major domino has fallen.
