Report: Eagles trading A.J. Brown to Patriots 'now considered likely'

The Philadelphia Eagles are now more likely to trade star wide receiver A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. It appears buzz surrounding the star pass catcher’s future is ramping up now that the NFL Draft is approaching.

However, a trade of Brown wouldn’t happen until around June. As Schefter reported, conversations would resume around the post-June 1st designation timeline.

“The Eagles remain open to trading AJ Brown, the Patriots remain highly interested in acquiring the star receiver, and conversations are expected to resume shortly on or before June 1, likely culminating in a deal, per league sources,” Schefter wrote on Twitter/X. “As one source said about the Patriots’ pursuit of Brown, they’ll ‘definitely be engaging then.’ A trade to New England is now considered likely.”

The Patriots have long been reported as a potential destination for Brown to reunite with head coach Mike Vrabel, whom coached Brown with the Tennessee Titans. Ironically, a lot of those initial reports came from former Athletic NFL insider Dianna Russini, who was caught on camera holding hands and hugging Vrabel at a private resort in Arizona last month. Obviously, that led to a lot of speculation regarding their relationship and Russini’s reporting on all things Vrabel and Patriots related.

But, it appears the Eagles and Patriots could come to an agreement regarding Brown. Brown was more vocal, social media or not, about his dissatisfaction about his role in the Eagles’ offense in 2025. Philadelphia went 11-6, won the NFC East and fell in the Wild Card round to the San Francisco 49ers.

Now that the Eagles brought in new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, running back Saquon Barkley seems very excited about the new direction, as well as QB Jalen Hurts. As far as Brown is concerned, head coach Nick Sirianni is more confident than not that one of the best pound-for-pound players in Philadelphia will be back. He’s under contract through 2029 as well.

“Yeah, my expectation is he wants to be here. And obviously, you want good players like that in your building,” Sirianni said, via ESPN. “As Howie said, it’s hard to get good players in this league. A.J.’s a great player and A.J. is a good teammate and A.J. is a good person. Does he want to be here? Yes. Do I want him to be here? Yes.”

Sirianni was then asked straight up if Brown will be in an Eagles’ uniform this fall. The head coach, who’s made the playoffs all five years of his tenure and won Super Bowl LIX, didn’t even guarantee his own job security.

“Will A.J. be here next season? I think we’re still in a spot, like, I can’t guarantee how anything is going to play out into next season,” Sirianni said. “I’m thinking I’m going to be the coach next season but you can’t guarantee anything past tomorrow.”

This past season, Brown posted 78 catches for 1,003 yards, seven touchdowns and 12.9 yards per catch. In four years with the Eagles, Brown has 339 catches, 5,034 yards, 32 touchdowns and 14.8 yards per catch.

More than half of his career production has been in Philadelphia after three years with the Tennessee Titans. Brown had career years in 2022 and ’23 (88 catches, 1,496 yards and 11 touchdowns; 106 catches, 1,456 yards and seven touchdowns).