Amidst a slew of deals on Day 1 of the 2022 draft, A.J. Brown was traded from the Titans to the Eagles, making him the latest in a long line of wideouts on the move to new teams this offseason. When speaking to the media in the aftermath of the deal, Brown offered more details on his contract negotiations with Tennessee. 
“This wasn’t my fault” the 24-year-old said, via ESPN’s Turron Davenport. “I wanted to stay, but the deal they offered was a low offer. The deal they offered wasn’t even $20 million a year.”
More specifically, Brown said that Tennessee was willing to give him a contract valued at $16MM per season, with the potential to reach the $20MM mark through incentives. A source tells Dianna Russini of ESPN.com that the Titans’ offer was better than what Brown indicated, but that source did not divulge any additional details. Brown’s deal with the Eagles averages $25MM per annum, and during his own media availability, Titans general manager Jon Robinson said the gap between the two parties on contract terms led to the trade.
“We really started working on [the trade] over the last 18, 20 hours” Robinson said last night. “We had discussions back and forth and we realized we got to the point where it was going to be hard to get a deal done.” As a result, the Titans reversed course from their public stance in favor of re-signing him, and Brown has become another beneficiary of the exploding WR market.
The Pro Bowler made it clear that the Titans wouldn’t have needed to match the Eagles’ contract offer for him to remain in Nashville. “I would have stayed if they offered me $22 million,” he said. But regardless of the AAV, Russini reports that Brown was seeking close to $80MM in guaranteed money, though he “only” landed $57MM in guarantees from Philadelphia. Russini adds, even before that $80MM figure was floated, Brown had requested a trade (it was previously reported that the 49ers’ Deebo Samuel was the only member of the loaded 2019 wide receiver draft class that had asked to be dealt).
Even if they could have hammered out an extension worth $22MM per year with $57MM or so in guarantees, the Titans’ preference, clearly, was to re-stock the position with the much cheaper Treylon Burks, whom they selected with the 18th overall pick. He, alongside trade acquisition Robert Woods, will now head the team’s depth chart.
Trying to close the book on a controversial transaction, Robinson expressed gratitude for Brown during his three seasons with the team. “We really appreciate what A.J. has done here for our football team, on the field and in the community” he said.
“We wish A.J. nothing but the best moving forward”.
Rory Parks contributed to this post.
Poor poor AJ only got offered 16 Million a year. If only players knew how lucky they truly are.
Yeah. He should’ve just left $36 million on the table. Get real.
Would you settle for less than two thirds of your market rate?
Baines03 and Oooh…what are you two 5 going on 3 year olds…..you totally missed mlbnyfan’s point which simply was most of us who work for a living won’t ever see $16 Million in their entire lifetimes let alone in a single year so understanding the mindset of a professional ball player talking about contract negotiations, no matter the sport is difficult for normal people to understand…..Value is a subjective topic especially in pro football…..AJ Brown is one lucky guy that the Eagles valued him as highly as they did……
Who cares? that’s just not how sports or even most careers work. if you feel your employer isn’t compensating you as you deserve you leave for better compensation. Brown is, in my honest opinion, closer to a $30 million dollar player than a $16 player in this market. Why would anyone just take that?
Yes, but the point is, someone or something has to value you more than what is being offered, and in his case, the Eagles did…..that’s all…..if your employed and don’t feel your being paid what you’re worth, you always have the option of leaving and going somewhere else….but that somewhere else has to line up with the value you want to achieve….did anyone other than the Titans value AJ Brown to the tune of his new Eagles deal? maybe yes, maybe no……in this case the “market” are teams willing to pay what he wants……and that might have been only 1 team not the entire league.
id be shocked if no one else would have offered this package/money at the start of the off-season. now, maybe not, but a lot of teams had found their chairs already, so to speak.
And most of us would never get over it if we took one NFL hit. I’m glad to see the best players get paid. If you think we regular people can’t relate to players making millions, wait til you find out how much owners get for sitting in a luxury box.
True, but without the owners, there is no team and league and these guys are working just like us for a living.
Regular people today have a difficult time relating….
Without these owners, there would be equally good other owners. Without these players, there would be worse players.
Football would be football without owners. Without fans forking over their money, there would be no league. You don’t own any owner your fealty.
Dark got the dumbest comments on the threads.
(:
I’ll contact your employer and let them know you are willing to take less if that’s what you mean. Just because you are being paid well doesn’t mean you should ever take less and your ability to earn someone else shouldn’t negate your contract.
The Eagles have the ability to progress him. Titans wasted this guy.
Everyone hates money until they get it. Lol
You’ll never truly know if you are an atheist until you are faced with a real death is imminent moment. That moment is when you find out if your entire life was a lie. A lie to yourself. Or did you stand true as you thought. I wonder how Steve Jobs reacted his last several months on earth. The answer will surprise you.
That’s a lot to pay for one great season of production
Bro, forget the owners. Idk how people don’t back up the players. Stop acting like you wouldn’t do the same.
From a Yankees fan? This comment is complete garbage.
Why should regular people try to relate? Sounds like a waste of time. Just because you have a lot of money, doesn’t make you rich
He lost me with “This wasn’t my fault.” What a childish public response to this. He is a great player but now he’s just another entitled man/child, whining about not getting paid.
Maybe he’s trying to tell Titans fans he wanted to stay.
Well, I live in Nashville and am a Titan’s fan. It was lame.
From a fantasy perspective. I like the move for Brown. Henry is a ball hog and with Hurts being more mobile , I think Brown will have more ops to be open, assuming his knee holds up. Great receiver otherwise.
You’re going to be disappointed if you’re expecting consistent fantasy performances from an Eagles WR. That hasn’t happened in my lifetime
Not a great look for the Titans to offer their star receiver much less than market rate and lose him after they guaranteed $87 million to two pass rushers who don’t even give them a particularly strong pass rush.
Who cares about the optics of the situation. Players get signed and traded all the time. No one cares about the optics anymore. That stuff is meaningless
I guess I meant more in the sense that it looks foolish because it IS foolish.
I guess. But it also seems foolish for a team that runs as much as they do to pay a WR $25MIL per season, when they could get a rookie at a fraction of the cost. Woods & Burks should be just as good if not better than AJ & Julio last year (~1300 yds & 6 TDs), for WAY LESS.
Julio’s another issue. He was already gone. Burks might end up good, but I think he needs time, and much as I like him, Woods might need time to even take the field. If Brown can stay healthy, he can out produce them both this year. Henry isn’t going to be great and healthy forever. They just made themselves worse when they’re in the only attainable division in the AFC.
Foolish? Seems like they made the right move
AJ Brown is a really good receiver they can’t pay because they’re paying star pass rusher money to Bud Dupree and Harold Landry. I’d call that foolish.
That’s part of it but three wrongs don’t make it any more right. Henry won’t be around forever, but neither will AJ. AJ is a good WR but he has already had some injuries, and their QB isn’t nearly good enough to get the most out of him. So why pay him top 5 money, when they can use that money elsewhere and get someone who should be somewhat comparable to him (at least they hope) for WAY LESS? If they had a better QB then I could see it being a bit more feasible. But as their roster sits right now, spending $25MIL on AJ would’ve been the wrong move.
Hey, if Burks turns out to be nearly as good as Brown and they find another good receiver, great. But if not, they slammed their own window shut while over committing to good not great players at huge money.
Brown is in that same good not great category. He could be great but they don’t have the QB to make it happen, so they made the right move. They already have another good WR in Woods too, so they don’t need to find another. If they can get someone that can blow the top off the coverages like Thornton in the draft in the 3/4 or a DJax type FA (don’t like DJax enough to say they should sign him) then that sets them up nicely. All 3 for less than what it would’ve cost to retain Brown.
I think Brown is a lot better and more valuable than Dupree and Landry. I like Woods a lot, but what kind of contribution will he be able to make this year?
He probably is more valuable than those two. But unless you have a time machine or some infinity stones to go back in time and have them not give out those contract, then they are stuck where they’re at. All of that has led them to the decision not pay AJ top 5 WR money, and to draft his replacement.
I don’t disagree from a fan perspective, but I have to think it matters to pending free agents.
In a loaded AFC this move likely sets up the AFC South to be a one team division winner only making playoffs… If Colts get some WRs in draft I would put them as favorite.
Wide receivers are going to go the route the running backs have gone. They’ll be drafted round 1 to get 5 years out them and then traded or released before the second contract cause a lot of teams can’t tie up that much cap space on a receiver. You are already seeing it play out a little bit. The market has far passed what they should be paid and teams have tough decisions to make. (GB, KC, Tenn, maybe SF)
Except running backs tend to not be healthy and good for long after their rookie deals, which isn’t the same with receivers.
Running backs have a shorter shelf life, but receiver/running back injury rates are actually about the same, i.e., 90% of the players in these positions will miss at least one game each year.
But those injuries don’t render a great receiver average by age 28.
Yep, completely agree. With 7-on-7 producing them like they do today coupled with the rules changes to benefit WR, teams aren’t about to give receivers top dollar anymore. It’s just not as hard to find a productive receiver anymore. Jefferson came in and broke all of Randy Moss’ records. Absolutely nobody saw that happening, and he’s not the only receiver doing it. Guys are getting 140 catches. Hollywood Brown with all of his issues had 91 catches last year. The position is just watered down.
“Not my fault?” So whose fault is it. Why does it have to be someone’s fault. Tennessee didn’t want to pay a guy who missed every other game. He didn’t want to play for less than his market value. It’s neither side’s fault. Both sides got what they wanted and moved on. Seems like a win-win to me.
I do think it’s Tennessee’s fault here, but I respect the way you’re modeling a healthy breakup mindset.
I don’t know if you intended that sarcastically, but I took it that way and laughed. Good stuff!
I meant it! You talked like an emotionally healthy person, which is rare in internet sports chatter.
Dude is 24 very very productive. Great trade by Howie.
He’s gotta be on the field to be productive
This is what happens when you pay a below average QB way too much money. Gorta start cutting corners. Ask Cousins how he felt losing Diggs. Vrabel claiming they went to the “extreme” just to offer $16 in the end shows this perfectly.
I think paying high end pass rusher money to non high end pass rushers is more of the problem. But this sure ain’t helping Tannehill’s cause.
Tannehill simply isn’t that good of a QB. Having a better QB even just by a touch can greatly aid a team, but he’s just – not good.
I think you’re underrating him, but I think we disagree by a margin of upper middle of the pack vs. lower middle of the pack. I certainly don’t think you’re winning much with Tannehill and no plus receiving weapons.
I understand that a NFL player is just trying to secure his future. I mean with the real possibility that a career could be over after an injury or a deterioration of skill level, said player should go for a higher salary and guaranteed money. But to come out and say it was not your fault was not a good thing to say. He should have just said thank you to the fans and the organization and called it a day.
Wide receivers are a dime a dozen. No sense in hamstringing the team just to accommodate one guy.
He’s not worth $20m per year let alone $25m
We’re talking about AJ Brown, not Christian Kirk.
Still seems reasonable to say, but yes Kirk not even worth half that
Teams finally catching on. WR aren’t worth that much with how 7-on-7 is spitting them out. Last time receivers got paid: Julio Jones, Demarius Thomas (RIP), AJ Green, and Dez Bryant, not one of those teams had a good outcome with those contracts. Everything is relative because the cap is exploding, but a receiver is going to be like fifth or sixth priority for me behind QB, pass rusher, shut down corner, and elite offensive lineman, mostly tackle. Anyone who doesn’t build their team that way is just asking for trouble.
The two teams in the super bowl sure prioritized receiver.
Chase is on a rookie deal, and Cupp isn’t making top 5 money. Rams signed Robinson to a second tier contract this off-season just like they got OBJ for after the Browns cut him. They’re not paying a receiver $30 mil a year.
That’s my point. They also prioritized those other positions I mentioned over receiver in the pecking order, especially the Rams.
And the Eagles have all their receivers on rookie deals except for Brown. They’ll be spending less on receivers than the Rams soon. They weren’t in a position to draft anyone like Burrow and they tried to acquire top veterans without luck. It’s not like every team is choosing from identical options. I think the Eagles are operating smartly.
AJ handled his business a lot better than Deebo.