A.J.

Brown

The Patriots continue to sound like the only serious suitor for Brown, but Rapoport also notes that a trade for Brown “may be revisited in June” given where things stay right now. The Eagles’ decision to wait until June to trade Brown would reduce the dead money the team would take on this season from $40 million to $20 million. The impending trade of Brown already feels like a never-ending saga, so it only makes sense that this story would carry into the summer.

The two sides have been working hard to make this happen, having agreed to postpone the void date on Goedert’s expiring contract twice in the last week. Re-signing Goedert keeps him on board through the 2026 season and allows the Eagles to spread out the $20.5 million cap hit they were set to absorb. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo previously suggested that the Eagles can’t pay Goedert if they keep A.J. Brown, and they can’t take both salary cap hits. One domino has fallen. Only time will tell if Garafolo was correct. Stay tuned.

Financial investments at the wide receiver position could have been the Rams’ primary motivating factor, though having three high-end wide receivers can hardly be viewed as a negative, albeit a pricey one. Nacua is entering the final year of his rookie contract and will presumably sign “a significant second contract” soon. Adams is due $24 million this season and Brown is set to make $29 million. Florio believes today might have been the Rams’ self-imposed deadline for trading Adams away because his $6 million roster bonus just became fully guaranteed. It appears as though Adams will remain a Ram for 2026, but anything is possible. Stay tuned.

Earlier today, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported that “the Eagles will not trade A.J. Brown at this time.” Garafolo said he “does not sense real momentum right now,” but he believes general manager Howie Roseman will engage in potential trade talks over the weekend. The Eagles face $20.5 million in dead money if they allow Goedert’s contract to expire at the new void deadline on Monday. Signing him to a new deal would allow them to spread some of that $20.5 million around to other years. Brown carries a cap hit greater than $23 million this year. Releasing him pre-June 1 would result in more than $72 million in dead money and a loss of $49 million in cap room. Per Over The Cap, the Eagles build team-friendly trade windows into their contracts. If the Eagles trade Brown before June 1st, the dead money drops to $48.939 million and the cap hit drops to $25.5 million. The two players’ futures with the team “are interconnected.”

Russini adds that both the Rams and Patriots are still interested in acquiring Brown, but if a trade were to happen, it would likely occur closer to June 1st. This could be due to salary cap hits incurred by the Eagles after June 1st, rather than a potential trade partner. While it is possible Brown remains an Eagle through the 2026 season, we expect this sage to pop up again in various news cycles. Stay tuned.

Russini expanded on her report from earlier today in an article at The Athletic, saying Eagles general manager Howie Roseman “won’t part with a great player for nothing” and that his “asking price for Brown was a first- and a second-round pick.” It is unclear whether Roseman is willing to lower the price, but that is the haul the Packers received when they traded WR Davante Adams away to the Raiders in 2022. Adams was 29 years old at the time. Brown turns 29 in June. Russini reported last weekend that the Patriots are not giving up a first-round pick to acquire Brown. Patriots executive vice president of player personnel, Eliot Wolf, said the only “real deadlines you have are salary-cap related” when it comes to improving the team via trades. Over The Cap currently lists the Patriots with $51.6 million in cap space and the Rams with $20.456 million.

It’s yet another “trade discussions are not dead” story surrounding Brown, who remains the most heavily discussed player after Trey Hendrickson joined the Ravens and Maxx Crosby was sent back home to Vegas. According to Russini, the Rams entertained a trade for Brown before acquiring Trent McDuffie, but they remain interested in the star receiver if the price is right. It goes without saying that this won’t be the last time we hear about Brown and a potential trade.

“The Patriots aren’t out of the Brown sweepstakes,” Graff concludes while noting that signing Romeo Doubs at least buys them a little space to not be desperate to trade for Brown. We’re not sure that actually matters from the outside. Doubs is a fine player, but he’s not A.J. Brown and there’s no store to buy other A.J. Browns from. The Patriots appear to not want to pay the price for Brown that Howie Roseman has set.

The Patriots believe the asking price for Brown is too high, but they remain interested in the star receiver even after it was announced earlier that they had reached an agreement with Doubs on a four-year, $80 million contract. The combination of Brown and Doubs would give Drake Maye a much-improved duo over what he had last year in Stefon Diggs and Kayshon Boutte. AJB Watch will continue until a deal gets done, or the Eagles announce they are no longer interested in dealing him.

He is, per Wolfe, the No. 1 priority. But the asking price is “still very high” and so there’s not much common ground on a deal. In other words, nothing has changed. The Patriots have continually leaked interest in other receivers and have been linked to Romeo Doubs, but to nobody’s surprise, Mike Vrabel would rather have Brown as his No. 1 target and that has taken priority.