Tennessee Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown plans on sitting out the on-field portion of the team’s offseason program — which begins on Monday, April 18 — until he gets a new contract.
The news comes from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who also notes that Brown isn’t alone. The San Francisco 49ers’ Deebo Samuel and the Washington Commanders’ Terry McLaurin are expected to do the same.
All drafted in the second round or later, the three wideouts are searching for a new contract at a time when several wide receivers were paid big money this offseason.
Fellow wideouts such as Davante Adams ($28M), Tyreek Hill ($30M) and Stefon Diggs ($24M) all saw new deals that will pay them $24 million or more per season. Even Christian Kirk got $18 million per.
Second-round picks that include WRs Deebo Samuel, A.J. Brown and Terry McLaurin are not expected to participate in their teams’ on-field off-season programs because they want new contracts at a time this off-season when WR deals have exploded, per league sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 18, 2022
Tennessee’s off-season program opens today, San Francisco’s Tuesday. But this is an issue that hangs over these players, their teams, and this draft. Teams will have option to extend these players’ contracts or explore trades for them.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 18, 2022
While trade speculation has been running rampant with Brown because of his contract situation, Titans general manager Jon Robinson and head coach Mike Vrabel have made it quite clear they aren’t going to trade Brown.
Tennessee will have to pony up the dough to keep him, but they do have until 2023, when Brown is scheduled to hit free agency. Spotrac estimates the Ole Miss product could net a deal that pays him $22.7 million per year over four years, and that’s probably on the lower end of what he’s looking for.
Brown is arguably Tennessee’s best playmaker and we continue to believe something will get done with him, and hopefully sooner rather than later.