Here's Why A.J. Brown's Contract Drama is the Jaguars' Fault

Leading Tennessee Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown elected not to attend his team's voluntary offseason workouts this week amidst contract negotiations. This erupted in a fierce reaction from the media and fans, and Brown venting his frustration on Twitter.

It's too early to call this situation and full-blown contract holdout, but there's undoubtedly a level of drama involved. And, there might be a surprising party to blame for the current situation – the Jacksonville Jaguars, specifically General Manager Trent Baalke and wide receiver Christian Kirk.

A.J. Brown Contract

Jeff Howe of The Athletic recently reported on the massive paydays star wideouts hauled in this offseason, notably Tyreek Hill's $30 million per year, Davante Adams' $28 million and Stefon Diggs' $24 million.

His reporting led him to multiple sources placing blame for these massive paydays, and the ensuing troubles they cause roster construction, on contract: Kirk's deal with the Jaguars.

One unnamed assistant coach told Howe "It’s (Christian) Kirk’s fault. What happened to Kirk is 100 percent the issue.”

Titans News

Kirk signed with the Jaguars back in mid-March, to the tune of four years and $72 million. That's an average of $18 million per year. For comparison, that ranks just outside the top-10 for active wide receiver contracts in per year average.

All for a relatively mid-to-low level receiver who's never had more than 1,000 receiving yards or 6 touchdowns in a single season.

Krik's contract with the Jaguars completely reset the market. It's not as strong as calling it an "issue" but NFL teams are held to a $208.2 million salary cap. Paying one player more than 10% of that creates headaches when constructing a 53-man roster.

Titans fans are eager to see Brown's contract negotiations come to a close. But, in the meantime, they can thank Balke and their division rivals for this drama.

Adam Taylor McKillop is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Adam Taylor also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username atmckillop. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.