On Tuesday, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer released the contract details for the Kansas City Chiefs’ newly signed wide receiver, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown.
The initial reports from his signing indicated that Brown’s one-year contract would pay him $7 million for the coming season — and allow him to earn up to $4 million in incentives.
Those figures were correct. But in most contracts negotiated by Kansas City general manager Brett Veach, incentives tend to be classified as not-likely-to-be-earned (NLTBE) — which means that if earned, they will count against the following season’s salary cap.
For this reason, many assumed that Brown’s 2024 cap hit would be close to $7 million. However, Breer’s report states the cap hit will be closer to $8.2 million.
The deal begins with a $3 million signing bonus. Brown’s base salary is $3.5 million, which brings the starting cap figure to $6.5 million. Brown’s $250,000 workout bonus will also count against the cap.
Then Brown can earn bonuses for his playing time — that is, his percentage of offensive snap counts. He was on the field for 69% of the Arizona Cardinals’ plays in 2023, so $750,000 of a potential $1.5 million incentive is classified as likely-to-be-earned (LTBE) and will be charged against the 2024 cap.
Another incentive of up to $1.5 million is based on his receiving yardage. With 574 yards for Arizona last season, only the lowest threshold ($500,000 for 500 yards) will be LTBE in 2024.
Then Brown is slated to receive a total of $250,000 in per-game roster bonuses. In a 17-game season, these will amount to $14,706 for each game. Since Brown appeared in 14 2023 games, about $206,000 (14 times $14,706) of these per-game bonuses will be LTBE.
Chiefs WR Hollywood Brown's 1-year, $7 million deal
• $3 million to sign.
• $3.5 million base (guaranteed).
• $250K in per-game roster bonuses.
• $250K workout bonus.
• $1 million in TD incentives.
• $1.5 million in playtime incentives.
• $1.5 million in yards incentives. pic.twitter.com/jFvu6r4zuh— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 19, 2024
Finally, Brown can earn a $500,000 bonus if he scores five touchdowns — plus another $250,000 for both the sixth and seventh touchdowns. But since he only scored four in Arizona last season, these are NLTBE incentives that will only count in 2025.
All of that adds up to an $8.2 million cap hit for the coming season. We now estimate that with 71 players under contract — and including all known transactions — the Chiefs currently have $7.7 million in cap space.