MITCH Brown has seized his second AFL opportunity this summer at Essendon, with the tall set to be rewarded for an impressive pre-season with a one-year contract extension.

Brown joined the Bombers on a one-year contract after being taken at pick No.54 in last year's NAB AFL Draft, but AFL.com.au understands the 25-year-old is on the verge of re-signing until the end of 2017.

The key-position player shapes as an important player for Essendon this season as it seeks to cover the loss of 12 players suspended for 2016 on anti-doping charges by the Court of Arbitration for Sport last month.

Brown, 196cm and 93kg, is capable of playing at both ends of the ground, so could be used to provide support to Joe Daniher in attack or to cover the loss of suspended trio Cale Hooker, Michael Hurley and Tayte Pears in defence.

Brown was a first-round selection in the 2008 NAB AFL Draft, taken at pick No.15 overall by Geelong.

The former Sandringham Dragon struggled to break into the powerhouse Cats team of that time, playing 15 games in six seasons on the Geelong list before being delisted at the end of 2014.

Brown came onto Essendon's radar when he filled in as a top-up player during the 2015 NAB Challenge, when all of the club's remaining 2012-listed players voluntarily sat out the pre-season competition ahead of the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal verdict in the long-running anti-doping case.

The swingman was one of the Bombers' best players across its three pre-season games last season before joining Sandringham in the VFL, where he enjoyed an outstanding year.

Brown starred in the Zebras' 2015 finals campaign, kicking five goals against Collingwood's VFL team and four against Box Hill, after being shifted from defence to attack in both games.