End of season for Trent Brown, but end of line?
Brown to miss finale — has played in 16 of 32 games after signing $66M contract
The season has ended for Raiders right tackle Trent Brown but coach Jon Gruden left open the possibility Friday that it’s not necessarily the end of his time with the team.
Brown sustained a knee injury late in the Raiders’ 26-25 loss to the Miami Dolphins and was ruled out of the regular-season finale Sunday in Denver, concluding two seasons where he was paid more than anyone on the roster but healthy enough to answer the call less than half the time.
“It’s disappointing no doubt. Very disappointing,” Gruden said in a video conference. “We brought him in here and paid him to be the LeBron James of right tackles. He’s had a lot of adversity. He’s had injuries, a number of injuries, and it’s hurt our football team no doubt, but that’s part of this business.
“For the time being, we’ll play the next man up, but hope to get Trent back and ready to roll for next season. He’s a great player. A great ballplayer. He’s got to get healthy and stay healthy.”
Since signing a four-year contract worth a maximum value of $66 million, the Raiders have paid approximately $37 million in salary and bonus money, for which Brown will have played in 16 of 32 games. In two of those games, including this year’s season opener, Brown played less than 10 snaps before leaving due to injury.
Brown signed with the Raiders after making all 16 regularseason starts and playing wire to wire in three playoff games with the New England Patriots that resulted in a Super Bowl championship, playing more than 97 percent of the snaps.
Last season, Brown played well enough to be named to the Pro Bowl but ended up missing five games and having surgery on a torn pectoral. This season, Brown came to training camp rehabbing that injury and barely saw the field. He played in the opener and sustained a calf injury after three snaps against Carolina.
Brown returned to play every snap in a 40-32 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, but then tested positive for the coronavirus, went on the COVID-19 list and was at least partially responsible for a $500,000 fine to the organization for not wearing a tracking monitor that was mandatory for all players. After coming off the COVID-19 reserve list, Brown intended to play against Cleveland but had an issue in the pregame locker room that necessitated hospitalization.
After a second stint on the COVID-19 list for health issues related to the coronavirus, Brown returned to play every snap against Indianapolis, the Los Angeles Chargers and finally the Miami Dolphins.
With the heaviest lifting done on the contract, Brown has two years remaining at $13.75 million and $15 million with $250,000 workout bonuses each year according to OverTheCap.com. If Brown were to be released, there would be no bonus acceleration
and a $14 million subtraction from the 2021 salary
cap that is expected to be lower because of revenues lost from the coronavirus pandemic.
There’s the possibility the Raiders could attempt to bring back Brown at a
reduced salary, at which point he could decline and become available again on the free-agent market.
Also missing the Broncos tr ip w ill be linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski,
who is on the COVID-19 reserve list. Guard Denzelle Good (ankle), defensive tackle Maurice Hurst (calf) and slot corner Lamarcus Joyner (thigh) are questionable.