A.J. Brown is the next blockbuster trade target for the Los Angeles Rams and it’s more affordable than you might think
The Los Angeles Rams could easily afford an A.J. Brown trade, but there are obstacles to consider.
Earlier last week, it broke that the Los Angeles Rams had “checked in” on a trade for star Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown before making the deal for cornerback Trent McDuffie from the Kansas City Chiefs.
That smoke has not died down. The Athletic‘s Dianna Russini reported early Friday afternoon that the Rams and New England Patriots have consistently been making “strong pushes” to get a deal done for Brown.
A.J. Brown deal is plenty affordable for the Rams
Much has been made about the price tag for Brown, with many Rams’ fans worrying that the Rams would consider giving up the 13th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft for Brown. That was always far-fetched and never made economical sense, but that is because of Brown’s contract.
If the Eagles traded Brown before June 1st, they would incur a massive $43,515,506 dead cap hit, which would be one of the largest dead cap hits in NFL history. As such, it was always known that a deal could not be done before the draft. Much like the Micah Parsons deal last year (when he was traded essentially right after the preseason), the Eagles would be better off waiting until the summer.
This works out well for the Rams, who have plenty of cap space for now and in the future.
How the Rams can make the trade work
As it stands right now, the Rams have just about $20 million in cap space. About $4 million of that is tied up into their rookie pool, so the Rams have roughly $16 million in effective cap space at the moment.
Staring at Brown’s contract initially, Brown carries a $23 million cap hit for the Eagles for the 2026 season. On the surface, the math seemingly doesn’t work out right there unless the Rams make another move to save cap space (i.e. a Stafford restructure). However, there’s a catch with this that works out for the Rams.
If Brown is traded before September 1st, he would have a cap hit of just $1.55 million. The remaining cap space comes from a $27.45 million option bonus that triggers on September 1st. That number works out for the Rams, who can decide how they want the option bonus to go from there. Option bonuses can be prorated (spread out) over five years to free up cap space. With that, Brown could carry just a hair over $7 million in cap space for the 2026 season, a figure the Rams can easily afford.
After this season, the Rams will have plenty of expensive deals off the books, as Matthew Stafford, Davante Adams, Kevin Dotson, and Coleman Shelton are all set to hit free agency, and they can move on from left tackle Alaric Jackson if need be, making Brown’s cap hits more than absorbable for the future of the team, even with extensions for Puka Nacua, Steve Avila, and Kobie Turner in play.
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