Brown was a semi-bust his first four years in the league. A 2012 2nd rounder for Tennessee, they let him walk when his rookie contract was up. He went to Buffalo on a one year deal ($1.25M). So, he was a true free agent and Buffalo had no rights to re-sign unless they tagged him. They were tight under the cap and had lots of folks to replace including their No. 1 CB Stephone Gilmore.
So, we just got lucky. The real question is why he lasted so long in free agency after exploding in the Bills defense last year.
https://www.buffalorumblings.com/buf...ls-free-agency