Malcom Brown, free agent DT, signs with New Orleans Saints
The New England Patriots saw former first-round draft pick Malcom Brown depart for the New Orleans Saints in free agency on Thursday.
The New England Patriots took another hit to their line on Thursday. Less than 48 hours after watching defensive end Trey Flowers sign a massive new deal with the Detroit Lions in free agency, news broke that starting nose tackle Malcom Brown has reportedly agreed to a three-year contract to join the New Orleans Saints.
It’s an expected move, but still a somewhat-disappointing one. The hope was that Brown might find the open market cooler than he hoped it to be and then consider taking less money to return to the Patriots, but apparently he found a willing suitor in the Saints.
The new deal is reportedly for three years and is worth $15 million. Brown is expected to replace Tyeler Davison as the new starting defensive tackle for New Orleans.
Source: The #Saints are signing DT Malcom Brown to a 3-year deal worth $15M. The former #Patriots first-rounder has a new home, while New Orleans adds a big piece.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 14, 2019
Originally the last pick of the first round in the 2015 NFL Draft, Brown played all four seasons of his career with the Patriots. He never missed more than three games in a year and averaged 46.5 tackles per season. While his sack numbers don’t exactly jump off the page (he had 8.5 sacks in four years, and zero sacks in all of 2018), he was a valuable run-stuffer and a penetrating force inside.
While the Saints are surely thrilled to be adding more starting-caliber quality and depth at a position of weakness on their roster, the Patriots probably aren’t exactly lamenting Brown’s departure. Although the former Texas Longhorn never started less than 12 games a season during his New England tenure, he also never fully blossomed into the every-down game-wrecking behemoth Bill Belichick envisioned him as when he was drafted.
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In fairness to Brown, he also had pretty Herculean shoes to fill when he arrived with the team: Vince Wilfork had just departed for the Houston Texans one month before Brown arrived, signaling a true changing of the guard at the nose tackle position. Any player would have struggled to replace a star like Wilfork, but like it or not, the bar was set high, and Brown never quite achieved it as a Patriot.
Maybe he’ll have better luck in the Big Easy.