A.J.

Brown

Designating the trade as a post-June 1st transaction allows the Eagles to split Brown’s $40 million salary cap hit between 2026 and 2027 rather than taking it all on in one season. Nothing is guaranteed, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter recently reported that the trade “is now considered likely.” The move would reunite Brown and Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, who coached Brown from 2019-2021 with the Titans.

The Eagles begin their offseason workout program on Monday, but Brown is not expected to report to the team, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. Brown has long been rumored to be a player on the move this offseason, with the Patriots viewed as the most likely landing spot over the last few months. While talks have stalled between the two sides as of late, Schefter reports that “conversations are expected to resume shortly on or before June 1,” which would allow the Eagles to split the $40 million cap hit between 2026 and 2027 rather than taking it all on in one season. While another suitor could still emerge for Brown’s services, the Patriots are the clear-cut leader in the clubhouse to land the star receiver.

It would be surprising if Brown were on the Eagles in 2026 given how things have trended. For the last month, all Eagles decision makers can say is People Are Asking Questions About My “A.J. Brown Is An Eagle” T-Shirt. Darlington says this doesn’t necessarily mean that the Eagles will draft a wideout in the first round — it’s a deep wide receiver class and the Eagles have already added Hollywood Brown and Dontayvion Wicks — but (our speculation) it shouldn’t surprise anyone if they wind up with a top-100 pick at wideout.

“What do you think the odds are that I’m answering this question any different than I answered it anywhere else? Like really, do you think that’s 50 percent? Do you think it’s 75 percent?” Roseman essentially lampooned the Philadelphia press corps. We’d be surprised at this point if Brown were an Eagle on August 1, especially after they traded for Dontayvion Wicks last week. It remains the biggest unresolved story of the offseason.

When asked about the possibility of the Patriots acquiring A.J. Brown, Wolf opted to go with the broad answer while refusing to shut the door on the idea of a trade eventually being worked out with the Eagles. The Patriots remain the team most likely to acquire Brown at some point in the offseason, but talks have stalled as of late. There’s some belief that Brown will ultimately be dealt to the Patriots in June, when the salary-cap situation becomes more tenable for the Eagles to consider such a trade. For now, we will continue to wait and see, but don’t rule out the possibility of the Pats adding a high-impact receiver to help Drake Maye before training camp.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter breaks the news, adding that Wicks will now sign a one-year, $12.5 million extension with the Eagles. Over the last four weeks, they also signed WR Hollywood Brown and WR Elijah Moore as well. Schefter reminds us that if the Eagles were to trade away WR A.J. Brown, that would probably happen after June 1st, “when the cap burden would be more manageable for the Eagles.” As things currently stand, Wicks will likely compete for WR3 duties. The trade also leaves Packers WR Christian Watson, WR Jayden Reed and WR Matthew Golden as the team’s top-three options after allowing WR Romeo Doubs to sign with the Patriots last month. The Eagles tacked on an additional year to Wicks’ contract after the deal, tying him to the franchise through the 2027 season. The extension includes $12.5 million in maximum money with $9 million guaranteed.

As we feel we have blurbed every week since March started, the salary-cap implications become more tenable for the Eagles to trade Brown after June 1. Sando quotes one executive as saying “It seems just a matter of waiting until June 1 passes for Philly to trade A.J. Brown, who in my opinion is a declining player each of the last three seasons.” Pats coach Mike Vrabel didn’t dismiss any talks for Brown, nor did Eagles GM Howie Roseman say anything but that Brown is “a member of the Eagles” at the NFL Owner’s Meetings this past week.

Far from a dismissal. The Patriots have been the obvious landing spot for Brown for some time. A trade may need to wait until after June 1 for Philadelphia’s cap purposes. Nothing the Eagles have done to this point has firmly planted the idea that they’re going to keep Brown, so it feels like this will eventually happen even if nobody is out-and-out saying it will happen. The cost is the major impediment, as Eagles GM Howie Roseman will (rightfully) ask for the moon for his superstar wideout.

Roseman says this will be “my answer to any question on A.J. Brown” during league meetings in Arizona this week. It’s a slight diversion from Roseman’s comments in January, when he said it was “hard to find great players in the NFL” like Brown, but we’re roughly three months into this trade saga, and with no end in sight, it makes sense that Roseman would prefer to avoid the much-discussed topic. Rumors of a trade between the Patriots and Eagles for Browns services have been the most notable, but the Eagles’ steep asking price for Brown, which reportedly involves a first-round pick, has been a deterrent for interested teams thus far. Brown caught 78 passes for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns last season and has eclipsed 1,000 yards in all four of his seasons with the Eagles. The soon-to-be 29-year-old receiver, however, has become disgruntled with his role in the offense and would prefer to play with a team that will better utilize his skill set. We’ll see if we get any more out of Roseman at league meetings, but the early comments suggest he’s dug in on avoiding the topic.

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.