Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith said in early May that he was focused on doing his job when asked about the expected trade of A.J. Brown and he didn’t have too different a take now that his longtime running mate at receiver has been dealt to the Patriots.
Smith said “business is business” when asked about his response to Monday’s news and noted that his business is not making roster decisions for the Eagles. He said he and Brown “had a great time here” and complemented each other well because they are different types of receivers.
Brown was usually seen as the No. 1 in that 1-2 punch and Smith was asked a few questions on Tuesday about now being in that spot on the Eagles’ depth chart. He said his approach is not attached to what number he’s assigned in the pecking order.
“I’m just going out there and do my job,” Smith said, via Eliot Shorr-Parks of WIP. “Regardless of how you want to look at it — No. 1, 2, 3, 4 — however you want to look at it, at the end of the day, we all have jobs.”
Smith said he thinks the current makeup of the team’s receiver room “brings out the best in everybody” and the Eagles will be banking on strength in numbers making up for what Brown brought to the offense over the last four seasons.
Although it was clear that the relationship had run its course, the trade of receiver A.J. Brown requires the Eagles to manage their passing game without him.
G.M. Howie Roseman knows it will be a challenge.
“A.J. Brown was a huge, huge part of our football team, a great player for us, and that loss will have to be picked up by more than just one player,” Roseman told a group of reporters on Monday, via Zach Berman of The Athletic.
The Eagles believe that DeVonta Smith could step easily into the No. 1 role. Smith, as Roseman also said, is “really, really, really good player, and [I’m] excited for him to continue to improve and shine as a player.”
The Eagles also spent much of the offseason adding receivers to the mix. They signed Hollywood Brown and Elijah Moore. They traded for Dontayvion Wicks, who knows the new offense. They drafted Makai Lemon in the first round.
The Eagles have the quantity. The issue is replacing the quality that they had with Brown.
But there’s also a projection to be made. After seven years of NFL wear and tear, the soon-to-be-29-year-old Brown could be moving toward the end of his prime. Beyond needing to trade Brown because Brown no longer wanted to be there, it’s unclear how much longer Brown would have continued to be the player he had been in his four seasons with the Eagles.
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has likely been thinking about ways to deploy wide receiver A.J. Brown for some time, but he had to wait to discuss the wideout until Monday’s trade officially brought Brown to New England.
It’s no surprise to learn that McDaniels is excited about what Brown brings to the table. Brown has crossed the 1,000-yard mark in six of his seven NFL seasons and McDaniels said that the receiver’s power on the field reminds him of one of the most prolific players in franchise history.
“There’s a force to the way he plays the game . . . Maybe the closest thing I’ve seen is Gronk. This is a big guy,” McDaniels said, via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com.
Brown is likely looking forward to playing for McDaniels as well. ESPN pointed out that wideouts have a history of great success in their first seasons playing for the coordinator. That includes Wes Welker and Randy Moss in New England in 2007, Brandon Marshall in Denver in 2009, and Davante Adams in Las Vegas in 2022. Unmentioned was Stefon Diggs with the Patriots last year and the Patriots might be aiming for more than Diggs’ 85 catches for 1,013 yards once they turn Brown loose this fall.
Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez is seeking a new contract as he heads into his fourth pro season.
While he’s been away from OTAs, he did participate in Drake Maye’s charity softball event over the weekend. His teammate, Marcus Jones, noted that it’s a “day-by-day thing.”
On Tuesday, head coach Mike Vrabel was asked about the situation and if the club was working toward resolving it so that he would participate in minicamp.
“I think the contract is the business and the professional side of this,” Vrabel said, via transcript from the team. “The personal side, I don’t want to let anything interfere with that. I want Christian to be ready when he comes back.
“I would imagine that he would be here next week. If he is, then we’ll coach him, be ready to move on, and get him ready to help us and help himself. Contracts are part of professional sports, I understand that. But I also know that those should remain private. Like any contract negotiation, you want to make sure that everybody feels like they get something out of it, and I’ll leave it at that.”
Gonzalez, who turns 23 later this month, has registered three interceptions and 24 passes defensed in his 34 career games. He had seven CDs, a sack, a forced fumble, and an interception in New England’s four 2025 postseason games.
Patriots tight end Julian Hill’s season ended before it began with an injury in a voluntary offseason practice, and head coach Mike Vrabel said today that he feels terrible about it.
Hill signed a three-year, $15 million contract with the Patriots in March after spending the last three years in Miami, and Vrabel said Hill had already made an impact with his hard work this offseason.
“Julian won’t be able to play this season, plain and simple. Devastating. Awful. I really enjoyed the person and want to have him around here as much as we possibly can,” Vrabel said. “He won’t be able to play this season. That’s just disappointing because of the impact he made in a short amount of time with his teammates, the person that he is, the way he practiced. We want Julian to be a part of us as much as possible, but he’s not going to do that on the field this year.”
The Patriots have not given any details about the specific nature of Hill’s injury, but it is reportedly to his knee.
The 6-foot-4, 251-pound Hill originally made the Dolphins’ roster as an undrafted free agent in 2023 and developed into a very good blocker and a decent receiver, and the Patriots had high hopes for him this season. Those hopes will have to wait until next season.
