It has now been 24 hours since the start of free agency, and the Ravens have done nothing but lose players. After three departures, two that took place Tuesday morning, the Ravens can now scratch John Brown’s name from the roster. Brown agreed to a three year deal with the Buffalo Bills on Tuesday. According to multiple sources, including Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network and Adam Caplan of Sirus XM Radio, Brown’s deal is worth $27 million. Caplan also states that the Bills are paying Brown $11.7 million in total guaranteed money, with $10.1 million guaranteed at signing. He went on to say that John Brown will also make $10.7 million in his first year at Buffalo.

The Baltimore Ravens signed John Brown last offseason. The hope was that he would become the offense’s go to vertical threat. In the Joe Flacco led offense, Brown found a role as the favorite target and became an integral part of the Ravens passing attack. For his efforts, I awarded him the Ravens mid-season MVP.  Despite early success, Brown saw a massive drop in production once Lamar Jackson took over the offense. The scheme built to rely on the passing game filled with deep shots to Brown was completely overhauled. He was no longer a key component in the run-heavy, Lamar Jackson offense.

It was expected that John Brown would move on from the Ravens in 2019. The scheme change simply did not fit his style of play. The Bills have a gunslinger who can launch the ball anywhere on the field in Josh Allen. Brown is much more likely to have a key role in Buffalo than in Baltimore in 2019 and beyond. Although the Ravens would have loved to keep Brown, the direction and need at the wide receiver position was not a role John Brown could fill going forward.

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