The A.J. Brown Trade is Taking Forever: Here's Why

I want to get to something that um I would say that I was asked more about over Memorial Day from people who care about football than anything else, which is when the F is this AJ Brown trade gonna consummate, and I would, the subtext of it is this, now you're hearing, oh, well, like, could the Rams get back in?

Could another team get back in?

Do you sense that that's just the Patriots trying to, or the Eagles trying to get a little bit more juice out of the Patriots at this point, or no?

I think the Eagles, like, look, This isn't like a fortunate situation for the Eagles that they're in from a cap perspective where like they do have to, I mean, they legitimately don't have any contracts left to restructure.

And so, to make this thing work, they logistically kind of had to wait till June 1st, you know, which by the way, does not mean you're saving $27 million off of what you would have if you had traded them in March.

That $27 million simply gets pushed forward.

To 2027, right?

So, um, You know, like I, I, like, that piece of it is not fortunate.

But Howie Roseman is Howie Roseman, and you know that in a bad situation, he's gonna find a lever that he can pull to take advantage of another team.

And like, I think that's sort of what this is now, is that, OK, so we have to wait another 3 months to trade him.

Is there something that we can benefit from by doing that?

And the thing that can benefit from Connor here is that other situations can materially change, right?

And so what does that mean?

Well, that means maybe a team drafted a receiver and that receiver came into rookie minicamp and has started OTAs and they're like, uh oh, like he's not ready, or there's an injury somewhere or As we've seen it, I don't think the Chiefs are gonna trade for AJ Brown, but the Chiefs were on AJ Brown's list, and like now they've got the Raschi Rice situation, which does that mean now with Rashi Rice in a contract year, we're not willing to pay him $30 million anymore.

So now does that move you if you're the Chiefs to, well, now we have like some financial flexibility.

Do we go and get an AJ Brown?

So I think, you know, I think that the reason why this thing has been sort of out there in the ether is like, they haven't agreed to terms yet, they're not done yet, is because the Eagles know that something could materially change somewhere between whatever date it is, and now it's May twenty-sixth and June 1st.

That could give them a, a better ending to the AJ Brown era.

And by the way, like that's what Howie Roseman should be doing.

Like that's what's best for the Eagles.

Like that's his job is to do what's best for the Eagles and what's best for the Eagles is to take advantage of the situation the way he has, however, I think that he's gonna wind up with the Patriots.

Uh, I, I, I, I would say this, like I think.

You know, initially, they were at a spot where um they wanted to trade him to the they, they, they, they want to trade to the AFC um and um the Eagles were given 4 teams in the AFC that he would accept trades to, and that was the Patriots, the Chiefs, um, the Chargers, and, uh, the Bills.

The Bills almost immediately traded for DJ Moore right around then.

And then the Chiefs said no.

The Chargers said no.

The Patriots were in.

That's when the Rams got involved because the Eagles needed a competitor.

The Rams went down the line with, with, with, with the Eagles.

Um, it was going to be for a pick far off into the future.

It's gonna be a 1 in 28, and, you know, at the end, I think the Rams recognize we're gonna have a hard time pulling off the corresponding move, which would have been a trade of Devonte Adams .

There were concerns with the knee.

And so, like that left the Patriots as sort of the lone suitor, and that's great if you're the Eagles that you do have a suitor and, you know , they're willing to give you a, a return that you're willing to accept.

But if you're not 100% happy with that return, then it makes sense to sit there and just wait.

You know, and just like, let's see how April and May turns out with these other teams and maybe somebody will have an injury or maybe somebody will have someone get arrested, which, you know, like you don't look for that sort of thing to happen, but that, you know, that somebody else did get himself into legal trouble and Rashi Rice and so, um, you know, I think, you know, on Monday we'll be talking about AJ Brown being a Patriot, but I guess you never know.

I think too it's the right place for AJ Brown.

AJ Brown is a guy who Um, I think he needs to feel safe, like we all do.

I mean, to a certain extent, and it's like anything else, right?

If you're debating between certain jobs and you're switching companies, it's like, oh, well, I know what my old boss is like, and it's just better working for him.

I enjoyed working for my old boss, right?

I think that there is definitely an element of that.

I do wonder though, and this is kind of something that I think hasn't been talked a lot about, is the fact that you mentioned the Bills in there.

Do you think that they come to regret DJ Moore over AJ Brown, and especially what they paid for DJ Moore, because I'm wondering if DJ Moore would have been cut, you know what I mean?

Like, if, you know what I mean?

And, and, and instead they spent a 2nd round pick to keep him off the market, and, uh, and then they gave him new money.

Do you think that that's the team.

I think both guys are sort of at the stage of their career where it's like, I mean, I think with each of them with, with more and Brown, it's really gonna come back, come, come down to what they have left in the tank, you know.

And I, I know the Bills view DJ Moore because he's great with the ball in his hands, great after the catch, um, as a guy who's a really, really good fit for what they wanna do offensively, right, and a really, really good fit for, um, for, for Josh Allen.

There's also some certainty there and that Joe Brady was with DJ Moore in Carolina, so they're not guessing on what they're getting.

Like they know the type of guy he is.

And he, like, isn't, like from a character standpoint, he's a former team captain, like A plus character-wise.

So, like, I think the Bills in the first year of Joe Brady being the head coach, know exactly what they're getting.

They feel like stylistically, he's a really good fit for their offense, a really good fit for Josh Allen.

Um, you know, at the same time, like I think that like for the Patriots, AJ Brown makes sense cause again, for the same reason the Bills look at DJ Moore and there's some certainty there, the Patriots can look at AJ Brown the same way because Vrabel was with AJ Brown in Tennessee.

And so, like, You know what the Patriots need and what the Patriots like where the hole would be and what they have offensively, they've got slot guys.

Um, Dobbs can play in the slot.

He can also play outside.

They've got, you know, Pop Douglas and Efton Chisholm is the inside guys and then Efton Chisholm, baby, yeah, and then, and then, uh, again like sounds like a long stick Mitty from Richmond, but I mean, uh, he's.

I think he, I think he's even Eton Chisholm the 3rd.

Um, I know our editor Mitch Goldrich is really big on including suffixes here, so EC 3, yeah, EC 3.

There you go, uh, and they have their Z in Matt Collins, and so what they could use is a dominant X, and I don't know if AJ Brown is dominant anymore, but like he does bring them something that Kayshaw Booty was sort of that guy, but now, but now AJ Brown can be that guy.

So I think.

Getting each guy makes sense for each team for different reasons, um.

I, I don't know that AJ Brown, I don't know that it would have worked out the same way with Josh Allen, because I think so much of moving away from, I think so much of moving away from Stefon Diggs for the Bills a couple of years ago was freeing up Josh Allen to grow in a different way where he could go out there and play point guard and use the whole field.

And, you know, for the Bills, I think investing in guys like James Cook, like Dalton Kincaid, um, like Khalil Shakir, like they wanna build an offense where the ball is being spread around.

And what is AJ Brown's primary issue in Philly?

It's the quarterback's not getting me the ball enough.

The quarterback, you know, and so like I just, I don't know that that would have been the same sort of fit where I think DJ Moore.

is an easier fit into an offense that's looking for you to just be a piece and not the focal point.