Patrick Mahomes wasted no time meeting his newest offensive weapon.
The Chiefs quarterback linked up with recently signed wide receiver Marquise Brown for an offseason gym workout less than a week after Brown agreed to a deal with the team. Brown signed a one-year, $7 million deal worth up to $11 million on Mar. 14 to join Mahomes in Kansas City after he spent the past two seasons with the Cardinals.
Another member of the receiving corps, Rashee Rice, also attended the workout. Rice poked some fun at his quarterback, too, with a T-shirt that pictured Mahomes' infamous "dad bod" moment during the NFL season.
Connecting with Brown quickly is crucial if the Mahomes and the Chiefs want to get off on the right foot in 2024. He will likely play a key role in Kansas City's attempt to become the first NFL team to win the Super Bowl in three consecutive seasons. Brown is one of those blow-the-top-off-the-defense receivers who averaged more than 10 yards per catch throughout his career.
Brown will be at least the No. 3 receiving option for Mahomes behind tight end Travis Kelce and the aforementioned Rice. The Chiefs didn't bring back wide receiver Marques Valdes-Scantling — a similar big-play receiver to Brown, but one that dropped eight passes over the past two years. For what it's worth, Brown also dropped eight passes over the past two years.
But when Brown is playing at a high level, he can be an elite pass-catcher. Brown eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards in his third year in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens in 2020. He also averaged more than 12.5 yards per reception in his first two seasons in the league.
A move to the Cardinals in a 2022 trade didn't pan out despite Brown playing with his former college teammate Kyler Murray. Drops and injuries limited Brown to 1,283 yards and seven touchdowns on 118 receptions in 26 of 34 possible games over the past two seasons. Now, he'll get a new lease on his NFL life on the best team in the league with the best quarterback.
"From the outside looking in he seems like a guy that is very passionate, and I'm a very passionate person," Brown said of Mahomes, via NFL.com. "He wants to win, (he'll) do everything necessary to win. That's somebody you want to play with, you want to play with someone who will bring the best out of you that's going to push your game to the next level. I feel like he's definitely one of those types of guys."
Mahomes, Chiefs get a low-risk, high-reward player
Brown isn't a surefire hit in Kansas City, but his floor as a reliable tertiary option for Mahomes cannot be overstated.
Kelce will remain the clear-cut No. 1 target for Mahomes so long as the veteran tight end is playing in the NFL. He's led the Chiefs in targets almost every year since Mahomes became the starter and that won't change in 2024. Rice emerged as a nice secondary pass-catcher after he nearly broke 1,000 receiving yards as a rookie with 79 receptions and seven touchdowns.
The Chiefs were missing a true third option on offense after players like Valdes-Scantling, Skyy Moore and Kadarius Toney failed to play at a consistent level. They were low-risk players for Kansas City, but the reward of their play wasn't nearly as high as what Brown can provide.
Unless the Chiefs were willing to go after high-profile receivers in free agency or the veteran trade market, the decision to give Brown a one-year deal was the best move Kansas City could make in an attempt to solve the most serious issue on the offense. Brown isn't nearly as good as Mike Evans — who signed a big extension with the Buccaneers — or Keenan Allen — who was traded to the Bears — but he also isn't as expensive or risky as Calvin Ridley, who signed a massive deal to leave the Jaguars and join the Titans.
Whether or not this deal pans out won't be realized for some time. But for now, Brown working out with his new quarterback and wide receiver teammate is a huge step in the right direction for Brown and the Chiefs in 2024.
