Patriots Acquire Wide Receiver A.J. Brown After Months Of Speculation

FOXBOROUGH, MA — The New England Patriots have acquired All-Pro wide receiver A.J. Brown in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a first-round draft pick in 2028 and a fifth-round pick in 2027, the team announced on Monday afternoon.

The Super Bowl LIX champion has been the subject of reports and rumors for the entirety of the NFL offseason, with heavy speculation that he would eventually be dealt to New England. The Eagles waited until after 4 p.m. on June 1 to be able to spread out Brown’s dead salary cap charge across the next two league years as opposed to one in accordance with the league’s current collective bargaining agreement.

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Brown is now reunited with head coach Mike Vrabel, who he spent the first three years of his NFL career playing for on the Tennessee Titans. Brown was traded from the Titans to the Eagles during the first round of the 2022 NFL draft, and Vrabel was reportedly not in favor of the move.

“It has meant a lot. I've watched him grow. I've watched him mature,” Vrabel said about Brown during a press conference in February. “I'm proud of him, proud of the father that he is. I'm proud of the husband. That has nothing to do with where he plays or where he played. Those are the things that are important. We reach out and text each other during the good things that happen to each other.”

Brown signed a three-year, $96 million contract extension with the Eagles in April 2024 and expressed his intentions to finish his career with that team. However, reported philosophical differences and frustrations between the pro bowler and prominent Eagles figures like head coach Nick Sirianni and quarterback Jalen Hurts may have contributed to his departure.

“Nothing can replace all the greatness that we achieved together,” Hurts said about Brown in a press conference in late May.

Brown now joins a Patriot team that is looking to build off a season that included a Super Bowl appearance and breakout campaign from quarterback Drake Maye that nearly won him the Most Valuable Player award. The former Ole Miss Rebel was drafted by the Titans in the second round of the 2019 draft. He has surpassed 1,000 receiving yards in all but one of his seven seasons so far in the NFL.