April 20, 2026
Brian Fluharty/Imagn Images
It appears that soon enough, the Patriots won't have to tackle A.J. Brown ever again, except in practice.
As the NFL Draft approaches, trade winds about Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown are getting very gusty.
The Eagles' offseason workouts begin today, but Brown reportedly won't be there, per NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, citing a lack of "clarity" regarding the wideout's future:
The #Eagles begin their offseason workout program today and WR A.J. Brown is not expected to attend as he awaits clarity on his future, sources tell The Insiders.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) April 20, 2026
There’s nothing mandatory before June 1, when trade talks with the #Patriots and perhaps others likely resume. pic.twitter.com/tXCEqSbyVM
This report comes on the heels of Super Bowl champion quarterback Nick Foles recently saying on his podcast that he was once "80-20" that Brown would be staying with the Eagles but has had a major change of heart based on things he's heard around the league.
Then on Monday came a report from ESPN's Adam Schefter that was the Insider's strongest suggestion to date that the Eagles and Patriots would eventually be trade partners for the three-time Pro Bow wideout.
Schefter reported that Brown is "likely to become a Patriot" after June 1, when the Eagles wouldn't have to absorb as big of a cap hit in 2026 if they move on from Brown.
The Eagles remain open to trading AJ Brown, the Patriots remain highly interested in acquiring the star receiver, and conversations are expected to resume shortly on or before June 1, likely culminating in a deal, per league sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 20, 2026
As one source said about the Patriots'… https://t.co/00gLK5DEdh pic.twitter.com/JnCQF2wz7z
Minutes later, Schefter also posted a link to his 2026 NFL Draft intel story that included a report that New England is at the "clear forefront of trade talks" for Brown but that "another team could always emerge," while maintaining that "multiple sources believe Brown and the Patriots are likely to become a tandem."
Meanwhile, Foles – the MVP of the Eagles' first Super Bowl win – on his podcast "The SZN with Nick Foles and Evan Moore" said he would have disagreed two weeks ago with any assertion that the Eagles planned to trade Brown, but after talking with "a lot of guys around the league," he sees the situation differently.
He also said Howie Roseman's recent comments – "A.J. is an Eagle" – weren't very strong in favor of the Eagles holding onto Brown, and that there would be risk in keeping a player who's unhappy.
Here's the quote from his podcast, around the 45-minute mark:
"They’re making their receiver room stronger, they have a first-year coordinator in Sean Mannion. You don't want to deal with what they dealt with last year. Now, AJ had merit looking back. Why was he frustrated? Well, it was why the concepts of the offense and how it was ran with Kevin Patullo. Looking back, that's maybe what the frustration was. Was it with Jalen Hurts? I don't know. I'm not in the facility. No idea. But because of those things and different people I know around the league that know A.J. a little bit, what I've gathered is he wants to be traded, but I also think he wants to be traded to specific places. I think new England would make a lot of sense because of his history with [head coach Mike] Vrabel. I think that's obvious, right? But really, because Howie is not shutting it down, that's a big thing. He’s gonna have a lot of strategy behind it, and he’s gonna get something what he wants, but I do think it's gonna come to a point where he realized last year it was very difficult - this is Howie — and he doesn't want to do that again with a first-year coordinator. And if A.J. Brown isn't happy — which it seems like he's not super happy in Philly, but he has gotta give the lip service to say it is — they're gonna try to find a wat to hopefully make it right for him and make it right for the Eagles. Couple weeks ago I was like maybe 80-20 he's an Eagle to where he gets traded. That’s now shifted to where I do think he will get traded before the start of the season."
The Eagles' main rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, already made a momentum-swinging move in the offseason when they hired away Christian Parker from the Eagles to be their new defensive coordinator.
Parker, who had been the Eagles' defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator under Vic Fangio and presided over the development of Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean into All Pros, also is reportedly expected to have a lot of influence on the Dallas draft.
The Cowboys have picks 12th and 20th overall, and they're widely expected to use both picks on defense, or perhaps package the picks to move up for an elite prospect on defense.
CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones reported that Jerry Jones believes getting Parker was a "coup" for the Cowboys and that Parker's influence on the draft will be "significant."
Here's the full passage from the story:
The influence new defensive coordinator Christian Parker will have on what the Cowboys do is significant, I'm told. Jerry Jones believes Parker's hire is a coup for the team, and they are listening closely to what the first-time DC has to say about these prospects.
Everyone knows mock draft are just for fun and shouldn't be taken seriously, right?
Surely, Rhett Lewis of NFL.com understands the assignment.
The NFL Network analyst and host, who played wide receiver at Indiana, had a very interesting selection for the Eagles at 23rd overall in his latest mock draft – Alabama QB Ty Simpson.
Here's what he wrote:
"R-E-L-A-X. While there has been no shortage of drama surrounding the Eagles and QB Jalen Hurts, I'm not advocating for drafting a replacement here, although Philly has had a habit of accumulating quarterbacks and then acquiring value by moving them down the line. This, however, feels like a potential landing area for Simpson via trade, especially if a team believes the Browns could be looking to select the Alabama product with their second first-round pick at 24. And instead of trying to predict which QB-needy organization will be desperate enough to make this move, I'm keeping the Eagles as a placeholder in this mock to highlight the tantalizing leverage they could hold when their turn comes around -- setting Howie Roseman up perfectly to work some of his customary wheeler-dealer magic."
Good one, Rhett!
His actual rationalization that the Eagles wouldn't really be making the pick at 23rd overall but being a "placeholder" in his mock for the team that trades up with the Eagles to get Simpson at 23rd, with the Browns up next at 24th.
It's an interesting theory.
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