June 01, 2026
The Philadelphia Eagles are trading A.J. Brown, arguably the best wide receiver in team history, to the New England Patriots. In return for Brown, the Eagles will receive a first-round pick in 2028 and a fifth-round pick in 2027.
In his four years in Philly after Howie Roseman swung a draft day trade for him in 2022, Brown averaged 85 catches, 1,259 yards and 8 TDs per season. The Eagles went from starting Jalen Reagor in 2021 to starting Brown in 2022, a drastic upgrade that elevated the Eagles' offense to the next level, instantly making them legitimate Super Bowl contenders.
During Brown's four seasons in Philly, the Eagles had a 47-15 regular season record in games Brown played in, plus a 6-2 record in the playoffs. He has truly been an outstanding franchise-changing type of player.
However, over the last couple of seasons, Brown has shown that he hasn't always been happy.
During the 2024 season, Brandon Graham let slip that the relationship between Brown and Jalen Hurts had soured a bit.
"I don't know the whole story, but I know that 1 is trying," Graham said during an interview on WIP. "11 could be a little better with how he responds to things. They were friends, but things have changed and I understand that because life happens. But the business side, we got to make sure we don't let the personal get in the way of the business."
That interview came after a win over the Panthers during which the passing attack struggled. When asked after the game what the offense could improve upon, Brown said, "Passing."
During a playoff game against the Packers, Brown was on the bench reading a motivational book titled "Inner Excellence," a moment that was largely viewed as quirky harmlessness, but did draw some criticism.
Ultimately, whatever was going on between Hurts and Brown didn't matter enough, because the Eagles would go on to win the Super Bowl. But even then, Brown raised eyebrows with commentary he made on Instagram following the Eagles' Super Bowl win over the Chiefs, in which he ranked personal domination over team success:
After a few days, I’ve had time to reflect on being a champion.
I tried to feel how everyone made it seem to be a champion and unfortunately it was short lived.. two days to be exact lol.
I’ve never been a champion at the highest level before but I thought my hard work would be justified by winning it all. It wasn’t. My thrill for this game comes when i dominate. It’s the Hunt that does it for me. It’s when the Db drops his head and surrender because he can’t F with me . The Intense battles. Early mornings. Late nights. Sacrifices. I love putting smiles on peoples faces, don’t get me wrong but it just wasn’t what I thought it would be. It’s the journey that I love the most. BACK 2 Work!
The following season in 2025, Brown made his frustrations clearer.
After a Week 4 game in Tampa during which he only had 2 catches for 7 yards, Brown tweeted a cryptic bible verse that he later deleted.
The following week, Brown had an opportunity to catch a deep throw from Hurts, but the ball fell harmlessly to the ground because Brown stopped running on his route.
The next day, PhillyVoice reported that Brown, Hurts and Saquon Barkley had a positive hours-long meeting. Hurts and Barkley confirmed that the meeting happened, but Brown oddly denied it.
Two games later, after a win over the Vikings, Brown took to Instagram again, posting, "Using me but not using me." He later deleted that post.
Soon after that, Brown made alarming comments while playing video games on Twitch with someone named "Janky Rondo," saying that his family was good, but everything else was a "s***show." He also urged fantasy football owners who had him on their rosters to trade him. When asked about his comments on Twitch, an unapologetic Brown said that he was upset with the offense as a whole.
After Brown dropped a crucial pass in the Wild Card round against the 49ers and was slow to get off the field before an ensuing Eagles punt, he had a sideline dustup with Nick Sirianni, who was imploring him to get off of the field more quickly.
Postgame, as media was entering the locker room to conduct postgame interviews, Brown hugged a few teammates — including Hurts — before making a quick exit, opting not to speak to the media, just as he hadn't done for the prior couple of months.
None of the above "incidents" or whatever you'd call them are all that bad on their own, but when you add them up and combine them with Brown's down season statistically and his generally joyless play, it's not hard for even a casual follower of the team to discern that he was not happy.
Brown has not attended any of the Eagles' offseason activities, including OTAs. During a press conference after one of the Eagles' OTA practices, Hurts had cordial words about Brown, but also revealed that he hadn't spoke with Brown since the end of the 2025 season, and that he did not attend his wedding. Once considered best friends, the relationship between Brown and Hurts very obviously deteriorated over time.
Brown was scheduled to count for $23,393,497 on the Eagles' salary cap this season. Because the Eagles have already paid him money that has not yet counted toward the cap, they are still on the hook for $43,515,106 in "dead money" that still has to count against their cap. Because he was traded after June 1, $16,353,497 will count against the cap in 2026, with the remaining $27,161,609 counting against the cap in 2027.
There will be major savings for the Eagles in 2027, 2028, and 2029, when Brown was scheduled to count for $133,121,609 on the cap during those three seasons combined. That's over $44 million per season. The aforementioned $27.2 million in 2027 "dead money" aside, that's all now off the Eagles' books.
The Eagles will also save $113 million in cash payouts to Brown if he had otherwise played out his contract in full, including $29 million in 2026. That is money that can go toward re-signing young star defensive players like Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Jalen Carter, Jalyx Hunt, etc.
As noted within our look at the financials of trading Brown earlier this offseason, the Eagles are always among the NFL's leaders in dead money, and will be for the foreseeable future. It is just how they structure contracts. In other words, they are much less concerned about dead money than fans and most media.
The Eagles have proven over the years that they will trade unhappy players. Brown joins a list of such players, like Carson Wentz, Haason Reddick, Zach Ertz, and Bryce Huff.
The loss of Brown will hurt the Eagles' offense, obviously. Brown's production can conceivably be replaced by DeVonta Smith, who will now become the focal point of the Eagles' passing attack. However, Smith's production as the WR2 will not be easily replaced by a new player in that role. The Eagles did add several receivers this offseason in anticipation of this trade, selecting Makai Lemon in the first round of the draft, trading for Dontayvion Wicks, and signing Marquise Brown in free agency.
Brown will turn 29 in June. He is still a very good player, but did show signs of decline in 2025, though his lack of elite production was arguably partly because of disinterest. If the Eagles kept Brown this offseason and attempted to deal him a year from now, his value would have almost certainly been substantially lower, especially if his production did not improve.
Ultimately, the Eagles did well to salvage a favorable return. They traded first- and third-round picks for four of Brown's prime years, and will flip him on the downside of his career for a first- and fifth-round picks.
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