Titans' Low-Ball Extension Offer to AJ Brown Could Backfire

All eyes are on the Tennessee Titans and how they handle contract negotiations with star wide receiver AJ Brown. The exploding WR market means Brown is set to cash in after his rookie deal, but there's a chance Tennessee balks at the current going rate for top players at the position and opts to trade the former second-round pick instead.

The Titans appear to be playing with fire when it comes to contract negotiations, given their reported low-ball offer to Brown.

AJ Brown Contract Extension

As Paul Kuharsky of OutKick points out, Brown was recently on a phone call with fellow 2019 draft class member Deebo Samuel. Part of this call was recorded via an Instagram Live posted by Samuel's stepmother, Precious Martin.

During the exchange, Brown tells Samuel he's heard from the Titans they wouldn't go past "20", as in $20 million per year on his next contract. He adds the team knows he's "worth" more but they don't want to go above that number.

It's hard to make a ton of assumptions from what appeared to be a casual conversation between two disgruntled wideouts, but it seems clear that Brown doesn't expect Tennessee to pay the current market rate. This offseason has seen the likes of Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams and Stefon Diggs sign contracts worth an average of $24-plus million per year.

At only $20 million per season, Brown would be short-changing himself when the market has never been better. And the Titans are running the risk of annoying their top WR to the point of him wanting to move on. Hill already swapped teams this offseason to get the contract he wanted, and it turns out Samuel could as well in the coming days.

Everything from Titans brass so far has reiterated the team's desire to keep Brown long term. GM Jon Robinson even responded to the Brown/Samuel video and doubled down on not wanting to trade his star pass-catcher.

It remains to be seen how this situation eventually resolves itself. Teams around the league will certainly watch with a close eye in case another top wideout becomes available.

Isaiah De Los Santos is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Isaiah De Los Santos also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username zayyy05328. 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.