Wide receiver A.J. Brown is expected to return from his hamstring injury after the Eagles’ Week 9 bye, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Though, drama still engulfs the veteran wide receiver beyond this injury — one that caused the star receiver to miss Philly’s Week 8 tilt against New York.
Trade rumors have followed the three-time Pro Bowler since his slow start to the year and perceived personal problems in the locker room. Multiple teams are “eyeing” Brown ahead of next week’s trade deadline, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, and the Eagles are willing to listen to offers. Schefter notes that the veteran wideout is not expected to be dealt but acknowledges that he is not completely untouchable.
Reading between the lines, it seems like the Eagles are testing the waters to see if they can get a sizable return for Brown, perhaps similar to the draft capital they sent to the Titans to acquire him in 2022. That is the theory posited by Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, who characterized Schefter’s report as a way for the Eagles to quietly solicit offers around the league. The most recent Brown report did indicate the Eagles are informing teams he is unavailable, but the defending Super Bowl champions are not exactly timid when it comes to trade talks.
Florio also mentioned the potential of a reunion between Brown and Mike Vrabel, his head coach in Tennessee who now holds the same job in New England. Vrabel did not want to let Brown leave the Titans in 2022, as captured during an awkward piece of mid-draft footage captured following the Round 1 swap. This helped put him at odds with team ownership and contributed to his eventual firing.
Indeed, the Eagles may not be actively shopping Brown around the league, but they may be open to the idea, if not in favor of it outright. Obviously, adding significant draft capital would be a boon for an Eagles front office that has hit on quite a few picks in recent years. A trade would also get Brown’s contract off the books and create more financial flexibility for future extensions.
Those benefits might outweigh what Brown brings to the Eagles offense right now. DeVonta Smith has been decidedly more productive this year, and Philadelphia’s run-heavy offense makes it difficult to consistently feed two top wideouts. But Brown has been heating up after his slow start in the first four games of the year.
Brown made six catches for 109 yards and a touchdown in Week 3, but in the other three matchups to open the year, he only recorded eight receptions and 42 yards. In October, however, Brown has gathered strength, culminating in a four-catch, 121-yard, two-touchdown outing in Week 7 against the Vikings.
Now, the Eagles might be in an interesting spot. Brown’s immediate value is skyrocketing right before the deadline, which could get them an appealing return in a trade. However, it would seem unwise for a team coming off a Super Bowl win with similar aspirations to return this year to deal such a talented wideout midseason, especially without much proven receiving depth on the roster. If anything, the current Brown trade talk feels like a precursor to a much more active market – both for Brown and other wide receivers – next offseason.
This situation ends with a trade. Everyone can see it coming. Might not be mid season but he is done as an Eagle very soon
It feels like as soon as the season is done, Brown will be dealt somewhere. He might go midseason the fact that the Eagles have changed their stance from “No,” to “Let’s see what we could get” makes me think that they’re going to do it. It feels like Roseman is asking himself whether it’s worth the return to deal Brown now while he’s hot, or to risk a cold spell lowering his value (or a team not as being desperate in the offseason, which would also be to take on a slightly cap hit for that upcoming season-$17 million for 2025, versus $23 million for 2026).
It could just be testing the waters, but it also feels like Howie is asking himself ”Now, or later?”
brown for a #1 and flip that to the cardinals for harrison jr
Why wouldn’t a team just give a first rounder to Arizona for Harrison Jr.? I’m sure he would be preferable to most, if not all teams, over AJ Brown.
He would not be. Have you even seen a football game?
Gut reaction? You never see firsts go in these trades, but I could see a bidding war here where I wouldn’t be shocked to see one change hands.
Rational reaction? The contract is the issue, here. The teams that really need Brown can’t much afford him. The Bills, Steelers, Broncos, and Giants are all teams that I see as being quite interested (others exist, of course). Unfortunately, none of are really set to take on $17 million in cap addition without major work.
The team that wants Brown and can actually afford him, though, is probably New England. Even after signing Diggs, it looks like they really want to push to take advantage of Maye’s development and not look back; Vrabel’s presence could be a plus or a minus, but at the very least, he has familiarity with Brown from having drafted him in Tennessee (or, more accurately, having been part of the process). The Patriots are in the middle of a playoff push and having finished their season tilt with the rival Bills this year, so they have motivation and plenty of cap to get this done if they wanted to. The only other receiver who is even close to Brown that might be available is Waddle, and the Dolphins don’t seem to want to trade him, even on his fifth year option. If they did change their minds, though, it probably wouldn’t be to a rival AFCE team, so puts even more emphasis on Brown as a Pats target.
Browns cap hits are actually pretty reasonable through 2030-this year is $17 million, then $23, $22, $27, and $29 million, so a team could fit that with some changes. I definitely can see a big time trade to another team happening after the inevitable restructures that are going to occur as we approach the deadline, but the Pats are set up right now to make a trade, so they bear mentioning as a contender. They’ve got $54 million or so this year, and projected the same so far for next year. They’ve Giants and Broncos have about $5 million, edged by the Steelers at $6 million. They’ve Giants might not be able to clear enough, but we’ve seen things happen. The Bills lag way behind at about $2 million. Gonna hard for them to make any trades. There is one team with enough space to take Brown this year that also bears mentioning in my mind, and that’s San Fran. They have about $23 million right now; however, I think that they’d prefer an edge rusher. Their issue has been injury, rather than talent, and have a big ticket WR contract on their books already. However, they’ve been looking around, and they do have the space, so they bear mentioning…even if I’m skeptical of their desire to pay what these other teams might. Jacksonville could get there, too, cap wise. Don’t know if they would, though.
I think NE is still at least a year away, and they are going to need the draft capital it would require to get Brown.
I don’t necessarily think that you’re wrong, but I think that they are set up to do a trade anyway. Even though Brown feels like he could command a first, looking at the potential partners’ cap situations really narrows down his landing spots. It might be easier to make a quality offer for New England than it would be otherwise.
The kicker here is that Philadelphia really doesn’t need cap space that badly. They could keep Brown this year and be just fine. Unless Brown becomes an issue in-house, the Eagles could just keep him on and not worry too much, so it swings the pendulum back the other way a bit to where whatever the Patriots (or any other team) will offer will have to be worth it.
Re-read this and holy moly, there are a few typing errors. I definitely meant to “not having finished their season tilt” when it comes to the Bills and Patriots, my oversight there.
I appreciate Brown’s play on the field. And I can even give him credit for trying his best to not “blow up” off the field as well (despite his tweets and other comments, etc.).
But it’s clear he isn’t a fan of the offense. And I can’t blame him for wanting to be in one where he feels more involved and like he’s making the most of his talents. And now, he also has a Super Bowl ring in pocket. So while I’m sure winning another still motivates him, he may also feel that now he can be a little more desirable of gathering receptions, yards, and TD totals that “show” people just how talented he is.
Maybe he’ll come to learn the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. But if the guy is unhappy it seems best for both parties to part ways via trade.
The Eagles played the Giants last Sunday, week 8, are on bye this week, week 9 and play Green Bay next week. Many things wrong here.
Well I’m not interested in trading AJ. However, his disconnect from the team seems genuine. So NE is really the only team that makes sense for all party’s. That leads to the question, what is Vrabrel willing to give up in a trade. I’d have to get WR Kayshon Boutte, a 2026 1st & a 2027 3rd minimum back for AJ and a 2027 4th.
I feel like these articles, especially about Brown, would be better served if they mentioned the dead cap hits involved with trading players on big contracts. According to Spotrac, if the Eagles trade AJ Brown this season (ie, a post-June 1st trade), their dead cap hit for 2026 is $43 million. Seems like a lot to me just to get rid of a very talented WR who gets disgruntled if he doesn’t get the ball enough (of which the latter part hardly makes him unique among star WRs).
Trading Brown in the offseason as a post-June 1st trade would allow the dead cap hit to be spread out to $16 million in 2026 and $27 million in 2027. Much more palatable if they’re hellbent on trading him, which, unless they’re receiving major pieces in return, they shouldn’t be.
NFC East is weak this year and could be next year as well. As long as Saquon and AJ Brown and Hurts are healthy, why mess with that?
A first for AJ makes a ton of sense for the eagles
Your offence is very run heavy and when it does come time to throw Smitty has been great, Dotson has shown bits and Goedert is still producing well. You create a bunch of cap flexibility and you can replace AJ with someone in the first round next season that’ll be much cheaper, not as likely to get injured and ofcoirse much younger.
Pats have a ton of cap space, they don’t need a star receiver but it wouldn’t be bad to add a guy like that either and they typically draft really badly when it comes to WRers. They just added some late picks which maybe shows signs they are gearing up for a big trade.
Id be all for it and very happy to add a Denzel Boston who is 6’4, 210 and can apparently run a 4.5