Raiders agree to terms with deep-threat Brown
The Raiders hope to have replaced Nelson Agholor as the surprise deep threat a year ago with the addition of veteran John Brown.
Brown, 31, agreed to a oneyear deal worth a minimum of $3.75 million and a maximum of $5.5 million, depending on his production.
Released last week by the Buffalo Bills, Brown’s signing was first reported by Adam Caplan of Sirius XM NFL radio and confirmed by a team source.
Players could be signed beginning Wednesday at 1 p.m., at which all teams must be compliant under the salary cap.
In advance of that deadline, the Raiders agreed to terms with of their own players scheduled for unrestricted free agency
— lineman Denzelle Good, defensive starters Nicholas Morrow and Johnathan Hankins and wide receiver Zay Jones. All were confirmed by a team source.
Entering his eighth season, Brown (5-foot-11, 178 pounds) has 320 receptions for 4,748 yards and 31 touchdowns for Arizona, Baltimore and Buffalo. Last season with the Bills, Brown had 33 receptions for 458 yards and three touchdowns in 15 games with nine starts. He went on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain in November, but returned and caught eight passes for 62 yards in Buffalo’s 17-3 divisional playoff win over Baltimore.
A third-round draft pick out of Pittsburg State by the Cardinals in 2014, Brown was one of the fastest receivers in the draft
with a 4.34 time in the 40yard dash at his pro day. Brown has had two seasons with more than 1,000 yards receiving, with 65 catches for 1,003 yards for Arizona in 2015 and posting career highs for catches (72) and yards (1,060) last season for the Bills. He had four catches for 42 yards in last season’s Week 4 win for the Bills in Las Vegas.
Brown assumes the veteran’s role in a wide receivers room that includes second-year players Henry Ruggs III and Bryan Edwards, third-year slot receiver Hunter Renfrow, Marcel Ateman, Trey Quinn and Keelan Doss.
Agholor was one of the Raiders’ pleasant surprises last season in free agency with 48 receptions for 896 yards and eight touchdowns on a one-year contract
after spending four seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. He agreed to a two-year deal with the New England Patriots for two years and a maximum of $22 million after playing for the veteran minimum and small bonus with the Raiders last season.
Good, who NFL Media
reported signed a two-year contract, was an important signing the day after the news of the expected release of center Rodney Hudson. Good can start at either right or left guard and last season started at right tackle in a pinch. With the expected release of right guard Gabe Jackson
and the release of left guard Richie Incognito, Good should start at one of those two positions.
Morrow, according to NFL media, will get a oneyear contract worth $5 million, with $4.5 million guaranteed.
Hankins, who turns 29 this month, started all 16 games in 2020 as a 6-foot4, 320-pound defensive tackle who was primarily a run defender. He has 46 starts over the last three seasons and has played in 47 of 48 games. Hankins, like Morrow, received a one-year deal, according to The Athletic.
With Jones returning and the signing of Brown, the Raiders seemingly have their full complement of wide receivers for quarterback Derek Carr. Jones, whose return was first reported by NFL Media, caught 14 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown. Terms of Jones’ deal were not immediately available.