brown was a highly sought after free agent after the 1996 season, but he elected to take a pay cut to stay with the packers. on february 18, 1997, he signed a three-year, $8.25 million contract, which was 10 times his 1996 salary, but was about $1 million less than the offer he received from jacksonville. he said that he would rather stay with the team and fans that he knew and loved.