Jawaan Taylor Joining Chiefs an Opportunity he “couldn’t pass up”
Former Jacksonville Jaguars right tackle Jawaan Taylor recently became a Kansas City Chief in free agency. The consensus is that he will make a transition from right tackle to left tackle for the Chiefs in 2023. Taylor signed a lucrative four-year, $80 million-dollar deal as compensation for undertaking the challenge.
“I felt like it was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up,” Taylor said, via Matt McMullan of the team’s website. “I did have the opportunity to speak to [Patrick] Mahomes. I can tell already that he’s a great leader, and I can’t wait to go out there and battle with him.”
Jawaan Taylor will have a lot of pressure on his shoulders as Patrick Mahomes new blindside protection this season.
Patrick Mahomes is coming off an undeniable league MVP, and Super Bowl MVP season. A large reason for his success was the consistent play of his offensive line. His newest offensive lineman, Jawaan Taylor, had very high remarks for Mahomes. Taylor likely came to Kansas City at least partly to have a chance of winning a championship. If he can keep Mahomes protected, it is a distinct possibility that the Chiefs could reach another Super Bowl berth along with Taylor.
Was Signing Taylor Instead of Brown Dumb?
The Chiefs lost their four time Pro Bowl left tackle Orlando Brown Jr in free agency yesterday. More importantly, they lost him to conference rival Cincinnati. The Bengals signed Brown to a four year contract worth as much as 64 million.
Kansas City signed Jawaan Taylor, Brown’s replacement, before Brown had fully agreed to terms with the Bengals. They are also paying Taylor a guaranteed $60 million of his potential $80 million dollar contract. A contract that shows a lot of confidence in a player who will no longer be playing his natural position.
Cincinnati signing Orlando Brown Jr fills an obvious void in the Bengal’s offensive line. The position group that has become the team’s Achilles heel the past two seasons. Cincinnati’s signing of Brown is in many ways a bargain. Although he will receive a $31 million dollar signing bonus, his average salary is only expected to be around 16 million. The Chief’s Jawaan Taylor received an $18.9 million dollar signing bonus, but will make 20 million in average salary.
The fact that the Chiefs did not make a harder push to re-sign Orlando Brown Jr is very telling. Their willingness to sign Jawaan Taylor for more money overall is even more telling. Only time will tell if the Chiefs made the right choice to move on from Brown and commit to Taylor at left tackle.
