The Patriots have a new wide receiver on the roster in A.J. Brown and there could be another trade involving a wideout in their future.
This one would see a current member of the team heading elsewhere, however.
While on an episode of his podcast after the Brown trade became official, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that Kayshon Boutte has been interested in a trade this offseason. Boutte has not been taking part in the team’s voluntary wideouts over the last few weeks.
Boutte is entering the final year of his rookie deal after posting 76 catches for 1,140 yards and nine touchdowns over the last two seasons. The presence of Brown and free agent acquisition Romeo Doubs would seem to lower the odds of the Patriots making another long-term investment in a wideout while also working against Boutte having a big year in New England.
Whether that results in a move or not will be something to watch as Week 1 draws closer.
Patriots Clips
Patriots left tackle Will Campbell offered an update on how his knee is feeling when he spoke to reporters from the team’s facility on Tuesday.
Campbell opted not to speak to the media in the immediate aftermath of New England’s Super Bowl loss to the Seahawks, which he later said was because he was emotional after playing poorly and allowing Drake Maye to be pressured 14 times in the game. When Campbell did speak, he also revealed that he had torn a ligament in his knee during the regular season.
Campbell did not have surgery and said his focus on rehab has him feeling back to full strength heading into his second season.
“After the season, my No. 1 goal was just take a couple of days away and just assess everything with the coaches,” Campbell said. “Pinpoint down the things I do really well and then things I need to get better at. Getting back healthy, I did PT five days a week the entire offseason until we got back basically. Just trying to rebuild the strength in my knee to get it back to where it was previously and I feel like I did a good job of that.”
There were questions about Campbell’s ability to be an NFL left tackle heading into the draft, but he quieted many of them during the regular season. The Super Bowl was part of a dreadful playoff run that he and the Patriots are hoping was simply about his injury rather than an upgrade in the competition the Patriots faced after a relatively light regular season slate.
Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown passed his physical and practiced with his new team for the first time on Tuesday. The Patriots have no concerns about Brown’s health, and Brown doesn’t either.
A report in April indicated the Rams had interest in trading for Brown until concerns about his knee prompted them to pass.
Brown injured his right knee in the 2020 season opener against the Broncos and missed one game. He had minor cleanup surgery on both of his knees in 2021.
Brown said his knees are fine.
“No injury, nothing to worry about,” Brown said, via Sophie Weller of USA Today. “You got to understand where I came from, so any conversation about anything is going to come up. So maybe in what, four years, I’ve missed one game from a shot to the knee.
“So that’s nothing to worry about. I’m good. I’m ready to go.”
Brown, who turns 29 this month, enters his eighth season unconcerned about the future. He was asked Tuesday how much he thinks he still has left in his career.
“You’ll see,” Brown said as he left the podium at the conclusion of his news conference.
New Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown has worn the No. 11 jersey throughout his NFL career, but in New England, he thinks of that jersey as Julian Edelman’s, and he won’t wear it with the Patriots.
Brown said today that he and Edelman touched base and that Edelman was happy to have him wear 11, but Brown decided to go back to the No. 1 jersey he wore in college at Ole Miss.
“Julian Edelman gave me his grace to wear 11, but I got so much respect and so much love for him, I’m going let that be, and I’m going to create my own legacy here,” Brown said. “And getting back to my roots, I was No. 1 up until I got to the league, and I tried to get No. 1 in Tennessee and I couldn’t because of Warren Moon, and even Philly, I tried to get No. 1, but Jalen [Hurts] just changed to 1 from 2. So it’s a match made in heaven going back to my roots, and it feels good.”
The No. 1 jersey in New England was worn most recently by Ja’Lynn Polk, a wide receiver who had a brief and disappointing career in New England after the Patriots drafted him in the second round in 2024.
All throughout the offseason, there have been rumors that the Eagles were preparing to move on from receiver A.J. Brown.
Now that the trade to the Patriots has been executed, everyone can move forward.
That was at least the message from left tackle Jordan Mailata, who spoke to reporters on Tuesday.
“Yes, we can move on now,” Mailata said, via Zach Berman of TheAthletic.com. “I think most of us that have been here the last six weeks, we have moved on, just from, we have enough to worry about. Getting over last year, and then coming in here and learning a new scheme and new concepts, like we had to press on. So that’s what we were doing.
“I think this is more of a — it sounds terrible — but like, thank God it’s over. It was a slow pain of just, is he in, is he out? We didn’t really know, and that really wasn’t our focus as a team, our team, especially on offense. But we got to keep these wheels moving, we got new guys coming in, we got rookies coming in again, we got to build that culture every year.”
There have been plenty of changes for the Eagles offense this offseason. Now that the trade has been executed, the unit can lock in and look completely toward the future.
A.J. Brown hasn’t been in New England even a full day. Yet, after his first practice, the wide receiver likes what he has seen.
“I’m just still in awe,” Brown told reporters on Tuesday. “Walking up the hill with the uniform on, I was like, ‘This is real.’ Caught myself at one point in practice, I wasn’t paying attention because I was like, ‘Dang. I’m a Patriot.’ Just trying to take it all in as much as I can. Obviously, I got back to work quickly. But there’s levels to it. I’m enjoying it. Obviously, I know this ain’t heaven, but it’s close to it.”
The Eagles traded Brown to the Patriots on Monday, receiving a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round selection in return.
Brown grew up a Patriots fan, and when they didn’t draft him in 2019, he said he cried. The Titans selected him in the second round, 19 picks after the Patriots selected Arizona State wide receiver N’Keal Harry at 32nd overall.
“That was a tough night. I joked about it earlier, I said the Patriots been breaking my heart over the years,” Brown said. “That night, I was looking forward to being picked going in the first round. I was projected a first-round pick. Obviously, things can go another way. The 32nd pick, they took another receiver. As soon as the pick came in, I was already in my car leaving my draft party. I went back to my room, went in my closet and tried to gather myself. I was just disappointed. It was somewhere I wanted to be. Obviously, I wanted to play with Tom [Brady], and that didn’t happen. But everything happens for a reason.”
Brown wouldn’t address what happened with the Eagles that prompted him to want out, but he made it clear he’s happy to be with the Patriots.
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.
