Metairie, LA (SportsNetwork.com) – The New Orleans Saints made a pair of
notable moves on Thursday, agreeing to terms with cornerback Brandon Browner
on a three-year contract and trading two-time Pro Bowl guard Ben Grubbs to the
Kansas City Chiefs for a late-round 2015 draft choice.
NFL.com reported that Browner, a Pro Bowl selection in 2011 who has been part
of the last two Super Bowl champion teams in Seattle and New England, will
receive around $18 million on his deal.
In order for the cap-strapped Saints to clear space to make the move, the team
shipped Grubbs to the Chiefs in exchange for a fifth-round pick. The eight-
year veteran was slated to count $6.6 million against the cap this coming
season.
It’s the second major trade conducted by New Orleans in three days. The Saints
sent All-Pro tight end Jimmy Graham and a fourth-round pick to Seattle in
exchange for center Max Unger and the Seahawks’ 2015 first-round selection.
Browner emerged as one of the league’s top cornerbacks with the Seahawks in
2011, when the former CFL player amassed six interceptions and 23 passes
defensed that season. The 30-year-old started nine regular-season games and
all three postseason contests for the Patriots in 2014, having to sit out the
season’s first four weeks for violating the NFL’s drug policy.
The 6-foot-4 cornerback also was suspended twice previously during his time
with Seattle for infractions of the league’s policy on performance-enhancing
substances.
Over 45 career games spread out across five NFL seasons, Browner has posted 11
interceptions, 52 passes defensed and 169 tackles.
Grubbs first earned Pro Bowl honors with Baltimore in 2011 and again as a
member of the Saints in 2013. The 31-year-old has started 118 regular-season
games, including all 48 at left guard during his three-year tenure in New
Orleans from 2012-14.
The Saints also announced Thursday that the team re-signed linebacker and
special teams captain Ramon Humber to a two-year contract.
Humber ranked second among New Orleans players with 13 special-teams tackles
in 2014 and started six games on defense as well, finishing the campaign with
a career-best 51 stops and one sack.
