Over the last few days, there have been a lot of rumors and speculation rising about the New England Patriots potentially pursuing an offseason trade for Philadelphia Eagles star wide receiver A.J. Brown.
Those rumors were taken to a new height by new head coach Mike Vrabel opening up about his relationship with Brown. However, there is a very strong chance that the Eagles won't be looking to move Brown this offseason.
While there are clearly some issues and unhappiness between Brown and Philadelphia, his contract is set up in a way where trading him would actually be costly to the team.
In his new mailbag, Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald broke down the main reason why a trade might not even be a possibility for Brown.
"The biggest question is whether the Eagles would even be open to trading him because even if he’s unhappy, which he’s seemed at times this season playing with Jalen Hurts, he’s still one of their best offensive players," Kyed wrote.
"His contract is also prohibitive in potentially dealing him. Trading Brown before June 1 would actually subtract cap space from the Eagles’ books."
Brown would be a perfect target for the Patriots, but it would be hard to see the Eagles making a move that would actually force them to lose cap space.
That being said, if things are bad enough between Brown and Philadelphia, they could consider moving on from him to bring in another draft pick. Brown would fetch them a pretty penny.
During the 2024 NFL season, Brown ended up catching 67 passes for 1,079 yards and seven touchdowns. Those numbers were a bit down from where they had been in recent seasons.
At 27 years old, he would give New England a long-term and clear-cut No. 1 target for Drake Maye.
Kyed has made a good point, but that does not mean that Brown will be unavailable. It does throw some cold water on the Brown fire, but no one can ever say never to a situation like this one.
