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Cardinals Rumors: Hollywood Brown's 5th-Year Contract Option Picked Up After Trade
April 29, 2022
The Arizona Cardinals didn't take long to reaffirm their commitment to the newly acquired Marquise Brown.
Arizona traded its first-round pick to the Baltimore Ravens for the wide receiver and a third-round pick on Thursday, and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported on Friday the NFC West team elected to pick up the fifth year on Brown's option.
That means he is slated to remain on the Cardinals through the 2023 campaign.
The Brown trade was one of the major headlines of Thursday's first round, especially when Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson appeared to express his discontent with the move:
While Baltimore improved its team by selecting Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton and Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum, it will still miss the dynamic wide receiver in the aerial attack. Its loss is Arizona's gain, as quarterback Kyler Murray now has a new weapon at his disposal.
There is also familiarity in place since Murray and Brown were college teammates at Oklahoma.
Brown finished the 2021 campaign with 91 catches for 1,008 yards and six touchdowns. The catches and receiving yards totals were both career highs, which suggests the 24-year-old is trending in the right direction as he joins his former college teammate.
He also figures to benefit from playing alongside DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins is one of the best wide receivers in the league and consistently draws double teams, meaning Brown will face some of the secondary defensive backs he didn't get to line up across when he was with the Ravens.
The Cardinals are coming off an 11-6 season and their first playoff appearance during the Murray era.
Yet they lost 34-11 in their one playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams, underscoring the gap they need to make up inside their own division. Brown should help them do just that.