Grading The Trade: The Philadelphia Eagles finally part ways with A.J. Brown, and here’s the truth about the deal
The Philadelphia Eagles and A.J. Brown are finally parting ways. As expected, he’s headed to the New England Patriots. Did the Eagles win anything from the trade?
Despite concerns that the A.J. Brown trade would not materialize in the final stretch, months-long suspicions about the Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver’s future were confirmed on Monday.
As expected, the Eagles are dealing Brown to the New England Patriots. The trade is the final result of a rocky relationship between the receiver and the team. With June 1’s arrival, the Eagles can lessen the financial burden of trading away Brown. The sides wasted no time in officializing a deal reported to be in the works for months.
Now it’s time to grade the deal for the Eagles.
The Eagles, Patriots trade details
- Eagles get: 2028 first-round draft pick, 2027 fifth-round draft pick
- Patriots get: WR A.J. Brown
Grading the trade
It’s tough to view this as a positive for the Eagles. Football wise, they’re losing one of the best receivers in football and one who gave Jalen Hurts the opportunity to take 50/50 risks consistently.
For years, Philly’s offense heavily leaned on Brown’s ability to make plays on the outside, where he often faced one-on-one coverage thanks to the Eagles’ strong run game. While the run game should remain a strength in Philadelphia, losing Brown will cost the passing game.
Financially, it’s also difficult to call it a win. As Spotrac points out in the tweet below, this hardly provides the Eagles with tangible cap space. They do get off the hook in cash terms, as they’ll save $133 million via Jeff McLane.
And as far as the compensation goes, the Eagles aren’t getting enough bang for their buck. The value of a first-round pick in the 2028 NFL Draft is comparable to a second rounder next year. This year, the Buffalo Bills got a 2026 second-round draft pick for DJ Moore. The Miami Dolphins got a first-round pick and a third-round pick as part of a deal for WR Jayden Waddle.
Brown is better than the two of them.
Moving on from Brown amid locker room concerns makes sense. His relationship with Jalen Hurts is visibly not in a good place. You don’t want that on your football team.
But how can you call this trade a win for the Eagles? Fortunately for them, they do have one of the best rosters in the game and have prepared accordingly at WR. They should overcome the loss.
But they’re on the losing side of this deal.
FINAL GRADE: C–