Signing guard Jamon Brown to a three-year, $18.75 million contract was an expensive mistake for the Falcons, who released him Monday.
“Just the fact that we met with him and said that at this point it was hard to work all of the guys through the competition,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said Wednesday. “Plus, it was a chance to get him started somewhere else. We wanted to give him the opportunity to do that.”
Brown, who received a $5.5 million signing bonus, will count as a $6.5 million dead cap hit in 2020 and $1.8 million in 2021. There’s offset language in the contract that could lower those amounts if Brown is signed by another team.
Who were the Falcons bidding against to overpay Brown who had already been with two teams? The Rams and the Giants were rebuilding offensive lines, too. If Brown was a player, both teams had chances to keep him and the Rams had two chances.
Also, letting Brown go signals that the Falcons are pleased with the work of third-round pick Matt Hennessy, James Carpenter and Justin McCray.
Before getting cut, Brown missed practices due to an illness that is not related to COVID-19. Upon his return he suffered an injury and was placed in the concussion protocol. He returned to practice on Monday and was released after practice.
Brown began the 2019 season as a healthy scratch in the season opener against the Vikings, he stepped into a starting role after right guard Chris Lindstrom suffered a broken toe. Brown started nine of the 10 games he appeared in last season.
Brown, however, did not appear in any of the final four games of the 2019 season signaling that he was a short-term rental. The Falcons elected to play Wes Schweitzer, who was not re-signed and went to Washington in free agency.
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