It’s Time For Orlando Brown Jr. To Deliver
Credit: Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports
The Cincinnati Bengals have done everything in their power to fix its offensive line in the Zac Taylor era. They’ve made free agency signings like Ted Karras, Alex Cappa, and Trent Brown. They’ve drafted quality players like Amarius Mims, and they’ve invested draft capital in players like Jackson Carman. The Bengals even had La’el Collins, whose signing with the Bengals back in 2022 was partially scooped by a high school classmate of mine tracking him down at the Kenwood Mall.
We've reached the "Twitter has spotted Collins at the Kenwood mall" portion of the program. https://t.co/lKnxT1QDJY
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) March 19, 2022
Their biggest move to solidify the line, however, came in March 2023, when they signed four-time Pro Bowler Orlando Brown Jr. to a lucrative deal.
Orlando Brown Jr. is finalizing a four-year, $64.092 million front-loaded deal with the Cincinnatti Bengals that includes over $31M signing bonus. Largest ever for an offensive lineman. pic.twitter.com/aweTbTGAcK
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) April 24, 2023
At the time, signing Orlando Brown seemed worth every single penny. It was an unprecedented move for the notoriously cheap Bengals organization, who ponied up over $64 million over four years to acquire Brown’s services. Brown even turned down larger offers, including a staggering six-year, $139 million offer to stay in Kansas City.
Even at a discount, though, the Bengals splurged for Brown. It was the largest contract given to a left tackle that offseason, and the third-largest contract overall for all offensive linemen.
While Brown was not bad by any stretch of the imagination in his first year with Cincinnati, he did proceed to have the worst season of his career. He logged career-highs in sacks allowed (7), hurries (45), and pressures (59). In addition, he had the worst PFF grades of his career (57.1 run blocking, 66.6 pass blocking), and his overall PFF grade of 66.1 ranked 45th among all offensive tackles. The consistency issues came to a head against his former team, where he surrendered two sacks to the Chiefs. He missed out on the Pro Bowl for the first time since his rookie season.
“My standard is set way higher,” Brown said regarding his 2023 season, per the Enquirer’s Charlie Goldsmith. “Last year wasn’t good enough for me.”
He also added that he needs to play more aggressively if he wants to play up to his standard. “My goal is to be a first-team All-Pro first and foremost,” Brown added. “Coming up short in so many different areas, I’ve been grinding this camp.”
Brown’s play in 2023 was hampered by a groin injury that he suffered against the Seahawks that, perhaps luckily, came right before the Bengals’ Week 7 bye. Per Goldsmith, he said the injury “wasn’t an excuse” for his struggles. However, once he was fully healthy from his groin injury, his play improved.
Orlando Brown Jr. has been much more aggressive in these last few games. I couldn't tell you if it's the modified offense, finally being fully healthy after the groin injury or just getting in his groove late in the year. What I can tell you is that it's been fun to watch. pic.twitter.com/Cyg23ll0K4
— Parker Blake (@ParkerBlake60) December 12, 2023
As the highest-paid offensive lineman on the team, Brown is now entering a prove-it year to show that last year’s struggles are behind him. He made a recent appearance on the Up and Adams podcast with Kay Adams where, despite 2023 not going to his standard, he declared himself more optimistic and secure than he has in quite some time.
“I feel like this is the first time in my career I would say I’ve been able to be myself,” Brown said. “Being able to not necessarily stress or worry about things that I don’t need to. This organization has done an amazing job not even just with me, with bringing everyone that they bring in here, they allow you to be yourself. And man I feel so free, in a sense of just being able to go attack each and every day. Being able to be in the locker room being myself or speak up in a meeting, whatever it may be.”
With the offense much healthier heading into this year than it was heading into 2023, the left tackle is ready to regain his Pro Bowl form. He has even circled matchups against his former teams on the calendar.
“Week 2 we go to Kansas City, we’ll be in Arrowhead Week 2,” Orlando Brown added. “Man I mean it’s exciting, for me you know even playing Baltimore twice a year, going back to M&T Bank once a year is crazy. But it’s always exciting, you know I don’t really necessarily put pressure on myself. I personally feel like I’ve played in the biggest game of my life already in that Super Bowl in 2022, and I don’t know if necessarily any moment gets bigger than the Super Bowl in 2025. So for me, I’m excited to get out there, you know we had a bad taste in our mouth last year losing, but we’ll have Shiesty back in action and see how it goes.”
Brown has to live up to his contract this upcoming season. He will be the anchor of the deepest and most talented offensive line that the Bengals have had in the Zac Taylor era. If he can prove that he can get back to his previous form as a stalwart on the left side of the line, there is no reason to believe that the Bengals offense can’t return to its previous explosive form.
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