Breaking: Trent Brown Just Got the Best Offensive Tackle Contract Ever from the Raiders
I’ve said it before and now is the perfect time to say it again: If I was an NFL agent representing a veteran player, I’d get his ass to New England for one year, let him have a good season under the best possible coaching, and then sign a huge deal elsewhere. And no one’s deal – and no one’s ass, for that matter – has ever been huger than Trent Brown’s. Or a better example of the wisdom of coming to the Patriots and cashing the hell in. Good for him.
The size of the contract is a bit of a surprise, but Brown leaving is certainly not. I had the chances of him re-signing here at just 20 percent. And even that seems high in retrospect.
After never really establishing himself in San Francisco, Brown came to New England on the cheap, looking to establish himself. I’m still convinced he was a throw-in on the Jimmy Garoppolo trade, part of an off-the-books, handshake agreement between Bill Belichick and John Lynch, the way Brian Hoyer was. And he played last season for the ridiculously low, clearance bin salary of $1.9 million. Which is slightly below what Ryan Allen made to punt four times a game. Or 20 percent of what Nate Solder made to almost get Eli Manning killed. To find a left tackle for that price is like finding the Blu-Ray of the extended Lord of the Rings trilogy in the $5 DVD box at WalMart next to the foreign-made Pixar knockoffs.
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Brown’s work this year speaks for itself. The biggest human being I’ve ever seen on a football field – whose size can only be estimated by measuring the way light from distant stars bends around him – thrived under Dante Scarnecchia’s coaching. He moved impossibly well for a guy that huge. He pulled. Got to the next level on combo blocks, especially late in the season when the Pats shifted to more of a power running attack. Most importantly, he was the anchor on a line that allowed only one sack in the postseason. I liked him more than some of the analytics guys. Pro Football Focus had him as just their 32nd best tackle, which I think is horseshit. And obviously Mike Mayock agrees with me, given what he just signed him for. He was a huge upgrade over Solder the year before. And he’ll always be appreciated for what he did here.
What remains to be seen is whether he’ll be missed. His departure was pretty much inevitable because they already have their left tackle of the future. They didn’t draft Isaiah Wynn at No. 23 overall last year to be a backup. His redshirt freshman year is over. He’ll be fully recovered from the Achilles injury that cost him his rookie season. And the job is all his for 2019 and the next ten years if he comes as advertised. Making the loss of Brown to free agency after one year and one championship the most Patriots move of all time.
In the meantime, Trent Brown will be getting the ring he earned and shitloads of money from a bad team. That’s how things work around here. I just hope he left a huge tip on Scarnecchia’s desk on his way out.