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Kliff Kingsbury: Cardinals Would 'Love' to Do Hollywood Brown Contract Extension
June 16, 2022
Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury is hopeful wide receiver Marquise "Hollywood" Brown will be with the team for the long haul.
While speaking to reporters this week, Kingsbury said the following regarding Brown's contract status: "Yeah, we'd love to get [an extension] done. Hollywood is a guy that we see as a long-term answer."
Arizona acquired Brown on the first night of the 2022 NFL draft in April, sending the 23rd overall pick in the draft to the Baltimore Ravens for Brown and a third-rounder.
While the Cards have already exercised the fifth-year option in Brown's contract for 2023, a new long-term deal before the 2022 campaign starts would alleviate a lot of pressure for both sides.
Baltimore originally selected Brown with the No. 25 overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft, and he was the team's top wideout during his three-year tenure, although the Ravens' offense hasn't been overly kind to wide receivers with Lamar Jackson at quarterback.
Since the trade to Arizona, Brown has opened up about why he wanted out of Baltimore, saying that while he enjoyed playing with Jackson, "the system wasn't for me, personally."
In terms of volume, Brown had his best NFL season in 2021 with career highs in targets (146), receptions (91) and receiving yardage (1,008). His six touchdowns were a career low, however, as was his yards-per-catch average of 11.1.
Brown was forced into running a lot of shorter routes in Baltimore's offense, but the prevailing thought is that he will return to being a downfield threat in the high-powered Cardinals offense led by quarterback Kyler Murray.
The acquisition of Brown came at an ideal time for the Cards, as they lost Christian Kirk to the Jacksonville Jaguars in free agency and No. 1 receiver DeAndre Hopkins will be suspended for the first six games of the 2022 campaign for violating the NFL's performance-enhancing drugs policy.
That means Brown will likely be Murray's top target for the first six weeks of the season with receivers A.J. Green and Rondale Moore, as well as tight Zach Ertz, also playing pivotal roles.
If a long-term deal isn't reached before the 2022 season, a hot start to the year as the No. 1 wideout would perhaps raise Hollywood's stock even more.