"A.J. Brown Is an Eagle": Howie Roseman Stands Firm With Star Receiver's Status

The acquisition of Dontayvion Wicks isn't moving the Brown needle just yet with the draft and June 1 looming.

Jan 11, 2026; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown (11) celebrates first down against the San Francisco 49ers during the first quarter in an NFC Wild Card Round game at Lincoln Financial Field. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA — When asked about A.J. Brown during his pre-draft media availability Tuesday at the Jefferson Health Training Complex, Eagles GM Howie Roseman turned the tables with a rhetorical question.

“What do you think the odds are that I’m answering this question any different than I’ve answered anywhere else?” Roseman said. “Like really, do you think that’s 50%? Do you think that’s 75%?

"A.J. Brown is an Eagle.”

That final declaration has become Roseman’s standard response this offseason as Brown has sat at the center of persistent trade rumors.

The star wide receiver’s future has been a major talking point following a disappointing 2025 campaign in which he expressed repeated frustration with the Eagles’ passing game.

Roseman first leaned on the line repeatedly at the annual league meetings in Arizona. Those sessions came before the Eagles’ latest move at the position: acquiring former Green Bay Packers receiver Dontayvion Wicks.

To date, Roseman has added depth by signing veterans Hollywood Brown and Elijah Moore to one-year deals in free agency. Then, earlier this month, the team sent a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 sixth-rounder to Green Bay in exchange for Wicks, who signed a one-year, $12.5 million extension with Philadelphia.

The flurry of activity at wide receiver has only fueled speculation that the Eagles could eventually move Brown — potentially after June 1, when the dead-cap hit would drop significantly from approximately $43 million to around $16 million.

Roseman downplayed any connection between the additions and potential pending moves, both in the draft and regarding Brown which strains credulity.

“Nothing that we’ve done up until this point will affect the evaluations we have on draft day,” he said.

Eyes On

Dec 20, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Green Bay Packers wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks (13) runs out of bounds after catching a pass against Chicago Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson (29) during the second quarter at Soldier Field. | Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images

Roseman was far more effusive when discussing the 24-year-old Wicks and his potential.

“Tay is a player that, you know, we’ve followed,” Roseman said. “Obviously, we’ve played Green Bay a bunch of times. You see his skill set: he’s a physical, explosive player at the top of routes. He can play inside or out. So he’s a guy that we had our eye on here, and then bringing in some of these Green Bay guys.”

Those Green Bay connections include new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion and run game coordinator/tight ends coach Ryan Mahaffey, who previously served as Wicks’ position coach with the Packers.

“Some of the hardest part of our job is the cohabitation,” Roseman said. “When you get a chance to bring in some of these new coaches and then talk about some of the players and the skill set, and then know how they are in the building, it makes you feel even more confident when you make the acquisition.”

Despite the increasingly crowded wide receiver room — which also includes DeVonta Smith alongside the new additions — Roseman indicated the position remains in play during the upcoming draft.

“The biggest mistake we can make is assuming we know what the team is going to look like a year from now, two years from now, and missing out on a player because we have a perceived need and then we don’t fill the need because the player’s not good enough,” Roseman said. “I think that’s probably a long-winded way to say that nothing that we’ve done up until this point will affect the evaluations we have on draft day.”