Former UNC star makes questionable $10 million NFL free agent decision to leave Commanders

A former Tar Heel and one of the breakout players of the 2025 NFL playoffs just raised a few eye brows in free agency. Dyami Brown — who emerged as a legitimate big play threat for Jayden Daniels — could have opted to stay in Washington D.C.

to form a fearsome receiving trio next to Terry McLaurin and newly acquired Deebo Samuel. Instead, the 25-year-old former Carolina receiver and 3rd round pick in 2021 has opted to sign a one-year deal with the Jaguars worth at least $10 million and as much as $12 million based on incentives. After Jacksonville parted ways with receivers Christian Kirk and Josh Reynolds along with tight end Evan Engram, they clearly had an immediate need to add more weapons for quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

For Brown, the allure of a bigger role — and potentially much bigger pay day next summer — was enough to leave a loaded Commanders team clearly on the upswing. MORE: Grades for every NFL Free Agent decision on Day 1 On one hand, such a decision makes perfect sense. While Brown did lead the Commanders in receiving yards in the postseason highlighted by several big plays downfield and in traffic, he is coming off a fourth season in which he caught just 30 passes.

And with Samuel now sure to take up a bigger target share in D.C., there's no guarantee that Brown could have produced enough in 2025 as a clear third option to ink a more lucrative long-term deal.

Brown, who led the ACC in receiving yards his final season in Chapel Hill, clearly wants the opportunity to seize a bigger role, something that may have been difficult moving forward in Washington. BEST FREE AGENTS AVAILABLE: QBs | RBs | WRs | Defense Instead of picking up the scraps left over from Samuel and McLaurin, Brown now slots in nicely behind Pro Bowler Brian Thomas Jr. who dazzled in a rookie campaign, finishing fourth in AP Offensive Rookie of the Year voting while hauling in 87 catches for 1,282 yards.

And yet while the opportunity may be larger, Brown is also willingly trading the chance to develop and grow alongside Daniels for a less secure situation in Jacksonville. Whereas the Commanders will enter 2025 as a legitimate Super Bowl contender, the Jaguars went just 4-13 and are coming off a bizarre offseason in which they hired new coach Liam Cohen but only after Cohen first turned them down only to then accept the role after they fired outgoing GM Trent Baalke. Not only is Brown betting on himself, he's also betting on Jacksonville.

That's risky business and why in the end we could look back on this specific choice as questionable. More related news Bill Belichick's journey to UNC began with a phone call to a prominent U.S.

politician UNC is adopting of one Belichick's famous Patriots' traditions.