Trent Brown signed a four-year contract with the Oakland Raiders worth $66 million and a $36.25 million guaranteed, the most ever paid for an offensive lineman. This year, Brown started 16 games at left tackle for the NFL champions, the New England Patriots, and had a dominant postseason.
During last offseason, Brown was traded to New England for a third-round pick (No. 95 overall), along with a fifth-round pick from the San Fransico 49ers. Brown had been playing at right tackle for the 49ers; the team selected him in the seventh round of the 2015 NFL Draft when after starting 10 games in 2017 he placed on injured reserve on December 16 with a shoulder injury.
According to Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area, Brown said he felt disrespected by the trade, which occurred after San Francisco selected Notre Dame tackle Mike McGlinchey in the 2018 draft.
“I was playing pretty well when I was in San Fran, but I think what took my game to the next level was just to be in an organization who believed in me,” Brown said. “No egos. Just confidence shot through the roof. I’ve kind of felt disrespected about the trade and I wanted to prove everybody wrong.”
Brown, the largest player in the NFL at 6-foot-8 and 380 pounds, had a solid regular-season with the Patriots, but then played at an elite level in the postseason against the Los Angeles Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams.
Oakland's general manager, Mike Mayock declined to specify whether Brown would be on the left side or the right side but said the following.
“If you watch him in the playoffs against the Chargers, watch him against Kansas City, the bottom line is we got way better on our offensive line. Derek Carr got better. Antonio Brown got better. The whole team got better.”
Going from a seventh-round pick to the highest paid player at his position was a lot for the 25-year-old.
“I shed a few tears — not in front of my family and [agent] Drew [Rosenhaus], but definitely that night behind closed doors,” Brown said.