With wide receiver A.J. Brown commonly sharing his frustration over the Eagles’ offense last season, they reportedly listened to trade offers ahead of the Nov. 4 deadline. Brown remains to be an Eagle almost 4 months later, but questions regarding his future haven’t subsided. Because the offseason gets underway across the NFL, Brown continues to seem like a legitimate trade candidate.
A late-December report indicated the Eagles could look to maneuver Brown this offseason. Around two weeks later, the Eagles’ season ended with an uninspired offensive showing in a 23-19 wild-card round loss to the 49ers. Brown and head coach Nick Sirianni got right into a memorable sideline dust-up in the primary half, though the coach downplayed it afterward.
It was also a rough evening on the sphere for the 28-year-old Brown. On the heels of his fourth straight 1,000-yard season, he caught just three of seven targets against the 49ers. Brown dropped two passes and accounted for a meager 25 yards.
When meeting with media on Tuesday, Sirianni didn’t “guarantee” Brown would return to Philadelphia for a fifth season. General manager Howie Roseman acknowledged that “you go into the league yr listening to offers for every part and anything.”
Although Brown had his problems with the Eagles last season, Roseman will not be inclined to ship out the three-time Pro Bowler/second-team All-Pro for reasonable. One NFL executive told Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer he heard that Roseman is looking for a first- and second-round pick in return. Whether that’s realistic stays to be seen, however the Eagles are expected to make a choice by March 9, sources told McLane. That may give Roseman clarity on Brown’s future heading into the brand new league yr.
Although there may be loads of smoke around a possible Brown trade, Roseman will keep him if he doesn’t receive a tempting enough offer, in accordance with McLane. If Brown remains to be an Eagle next season, he’ll count an inexpensive $23.39MM against their salary cap. However, trading Brown before June 1 would level the Eagles with a 43.45MM dead cap charge, a record for his position. They’d also lose $20.12MM in spending room. Meanwhile, an acquiring team would need to tackle what’s left of the three-year, $96MM extension Brown signed before the Eagles’ Super Bowl-winning 2024 campaign.
Holding off until after June 1, because the Falcons did after they traded Julio Jones in 2021, would point to a more favorable financial situation for the Eagles next season. They’d still need to spread his dead money over two years ($16.35MM in 2026 and $27.1MM in ’27), but they’d liberate $7MM in respiration room in 2026. Despite that, it doesn’t appear the Eagles will wait that long to map out Brown’s future. By the sounds of it, Roseman will either do away with Brown in the subsequent 10 days or the wideout will stay put.