Rams General Manager Les Snead says he was interested in trading for Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown.
“We chatted with Philly, nothing worked out,” Snead said on PFT Live. “There were talks, we had discussions, didn’t work out. That happens.”
Snead did not say why the trade didn’t work out, but the Rams have confirmed that they also discussed trading Davante Adams away if they had acquired Brown. Snead said he and head coach Sean McVay both believe in being upfront with players if there’s a chance they could be traded, so they told Adams it was possible.
“As soon as any of those discussions take a certain level, we should definitely make that phone call,” Snead said. “I think all players appreciate the transparency.”
The Eagles potentially trading Brown has been one of the most-discussed stories of this NFL offseason. It hasn’t happened yet, but Snead confirmed it’s not just a much-discussed story among fans and the media. Those discussions are happening in NFL front offices as well.
When Sean Mannion’s playing career ended, he joined the Packers as an offensive assistant in 2024.
Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur knew Mannion from their shared time on the Rams in 2017 when LaFleur was the offensive coordinator and Mannion was Los Angeles’ backup to Jared Goff.
After a quick promotion to QBs coach in 2025 following the retirement of Tom Clements, Mannion is now set to serve as Eagles offensive coordinator in 2026.
LaFleur said at the annual league meeting on Monday that he’s expecting Mannion to do quite well.
“Oh, Sean’s going to crush it. He’s going to do a great job,” LaFleur said. “He is one of the hardest workers I’ve been around. Certainly I saw it when he was a player, because I coached him for a year with the Rams, and then I saw just the work that he put in on a daily basis. He’s not afraid of work, now. It’s going to be a grind.
“His biggest thing that he’s going to have to learn is how to deal with all you guys [in the media] in Philly,” LaFleur added with a laugh.
Manion was a Rams third-round pick in 2015, spending his first four seasons with the club. He then ping ponged between the Vikings and Seahawks for several years before retiring to become a coach in 2023.
Earlier this month, most Rams fans reacted with delight to the news that their favorite team would possibly be trading for Eagles receiver A.J. Brown. They also reacted with disbelief (to put it mildly) that the Rams would have then traded receiver Davante Adams.
On Monday, Rams coach Sean McVay confirmed to reporters that a possible Adams trade was on the table.
“I’ve talked with Davante about that, and if we felt like it was best for our team, we would’ve done that,” McVay said.
Acquiring Brown would have definitely made trading Adams “best for our team.”
The Rams ultimately didn’t trade for Brown because, as we’ve heard, something in the medical records caused them to tap out. That made it unnecessary to trade Adams.
With Puka Nacua in line for an extension (the market has moved to $42.15 million per year, thanks to the new Jaxon Smith-Njigba deal), the Rams wouldn’t have paid him and Brown ($29 million for 2026) and Adams ($24 million for 2026).
The matter was settled before Adams earned a $6 million roster bonus on March 15. But McVay has now made it clear that Adams was on notice of the possibility that, despite leading the league in touchdown receptions in 2025, he would have been elsewhere again in 2026.
The Eagles and Patriots have been linked in trade speculation this offseason, but the two teams have not come together to make a deal this month.
They have been able to agree on something else, however. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said on Monday that his team will hold joint practices with Mike Vrabel and the Patriots during training camp this summer. Those practices will take place in New England.
Sirianni’s announcement came during a session that also saw him echo General Manager Howie Roseman’s answer to questions about wide receiver A.J. Brown’s status. Roseman said on Sunday that Brown remains on the Eagles’ roster when asked about trading the wideout and Sirianni said the same thing on Monday.
Trading Brown after June 1 would work out better for the Eagles for cap purposes and the Patriots have frequently been cited as a likely landing spot due to their need at the position as well as Brown’s history with Vrabel from Tennessee. If the trade does go down, Sirianni and company will still have a chance to catch up with the receiver in August.
The Eagles’ trade for quarterback Andy Dalton was not a reflection on Tanner McKee, the 2023 sixth-round pick who backed up Jalen Hurts last season.
Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman said he thinks both McKee and Dalton can play well if Hurts goes down, and he’ll always feel better with a roster that has three quarterbacks he’s confident in.
“The way I think about these three quarterbacks when I go to bed at night, I know we have three quarterbacks who can play. I sleep better. It’s just how I roll,” Roseman said, via TheAthletic.com.
Roseman said the Eagles organization has always thought highly of the 38-year-old Dalton, who is heading into his 16th NFL season.
“I thought it was a good opportunity for us to bring in Andy — a guy that we’ve known for a long time, a guy that can add a lot on and off the field,” Roseman said. “He can still throw it. He can still really make quick decisions. We’ve liked him for a long time, watched him for a long time.”
The Eagles only had to give up a 2027 seventh-round draft pick to get Dalton from the Panthers, and he’ll only cost $1.5 million on their salary cap this season. That’s a low price to pay for Roseman to sleep better.
