'Parallel Paths' Turns Into Fresh Start For Eagles, A.J. Brown

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman was reluctant to trade star receiver A.J. Brown at the start of the offseason, but now believes dealing the three-time All-Pro to the New England Patriots was the right move for both the organization and the player.

“From our conversations with A.J., he just felt for his family that at this stage of his career, it was something he was desiring and looking forward to,” Roseman told reporters, including Eagles On SI, on a Zoom conference call after the deal was finalized Monday. “In all of our conversations, A.J. was very positive about his experiences in Philly. He just felt like going forward, that was something he preferred.”

Brown’s four-year run in Philadelphia was historic.

He delivered four straight 1,000-yard seasons, posted the two best receiving years in franchise history, earned three All-Pro honors, made four postseason appearances, including two Super Bowl berths and won a Lombardi Trophy.

More often than not during his stay with the Eagles, Brown was the best pure football player on one of the NFL’s best teams. In recent years, however, he had grown disenchanted with a risk-averse, run-first offense that limited his opportunities in the passing game.

With the June 1 deadline allowing the Eagles to spread his dead cap hit over two seasons, Roseman pulled the trigger on the trade — sending Brown to New England in exchange for a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick.

A first-round selection was a non-negotiable for Roseman, and the well-regarded GM refused to lower his asking price.

“We wouldn’t have done this trade if there wasn’t a first-round pick, plus [another asset] included,” Roseman said. “You go into these with a feel for the player and what he has done for your team. It’s hard to pull the trigger on these. But after those conversations, and with where we are and the players we have coming up that we want to extend, being able to get this first-round pick and some cap and cash relief, we felt like this could be a win-win for both sides.”

Parallel Paths

Howie Roseman speaks with reporters. | John McMullen/Eagles On SI

While many around the league assumed Brown would eventually be moved, Roseman said the team operated on “parallel paths,” preparing to keep him if the right return didn’t materialize.

"There were a lot of conversations with AJ and just kind of hearing him and then getting us in a position where we kind of thought about our team now, and how we can build our team going forward. "With the conversations we were having with other teams we felt we could get really good value," Roseman said. "Again, hard to get first-round picks. And not wanting to be in a spot where we felt like at some point we didn’t have the resources to continue to improve the team, to continue to get better, to continue to sign our young players.

"I don’t know that there was a day (we knew we were trading Brown) but I think just based on a lot of conversations, it felt like there were parallel paths where we could be a really good team with him and obviously we showed that in the four years he’s been here, but also felt like with the resources that we had that we cold build a really good team going forward as well."

With Brown now headed to New England, the Eagles turn the page on one of the most productive receiver tenures in franchise history.

While the deal delivered significant draft capital and future flexibility for Roseman and the Eagles, expecting the offense to improve in the short term under rookie offensive coordinator and first-time play-caller Sean Mannion without arguably its most dynamic playmaker seems like a tall order.

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