{"id":1827,"date":"2026-06-03T09:33:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T09:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1827"},"modified":"2026-06-03T09:33:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T09:33:09","slug":"trading-for-a-j-brown-was-the-right-move-for-the-patriots-but-theres-a-lot-not-to-like-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1827","title":{"rendered":"Trading for A.J. Brown was the right move for the Patriots, but there\u2019s a lot not to like about it"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span>The Patriots\u2019 social media team couldn\u2019t contain its excitement after the team traded for receiver A.J. Brown Monday, posting 15 times about Brown on X in 24 hours.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1825\">Tuesday\u2019s nine high school tournament takeaways: Girls\u2019 lacrosse semifinals start to take shape<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>There were multiple posts announcing the trade, even though Brown hadn\u2019t yet passed a physical. A picture of Brown holding up a Patriots jersey. A video of Brown arriving in Foxborough Tuesday morning. Brown\u2019s highlight reel from the Eagles. A one-handed catch from Brown\u2019s first practice with the team.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cHe\u2019s here,\u201d the Patriots posted, \u201cand he\u2019s perfect.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>The excitement is understandable. Brown, a three-time Pro Bowler who helped the Eagles win a Super Bowl two years ago, is the Patriots\u2019 most accomplished pass catcher since Rob Gronkowski last played here in 2018. Acquiring Brown was a move the Patriots had to make after releasing Stefon Diggs in March. The Patriots can now credibly say they have improved the offense from last year.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><span>Get Starting Point<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><label>Enter Email<\/label><\/p>\n<div><button>Sign Up<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>\u201cThere\u2019s a force to the way he plays the game,\u201d offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said Tuesday of Brown. \u201cMaybe the closest thing I\u2019ve seen is Gronk. This is a big guy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Trading for Brown was the right move for the Patriots, but it wasn\u2019t a perfect one. A closer look reveals a good amount of risk and an overpay for the Patriots.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Brown, who turns 29 at the end of this month, has some red flags. He has chronic knee issues that will likely require him to miss practices this year. In the Eagles\u2019 Super Bowl run of 2024-25, Brown had his knee drained twice per week. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Monday night that the Rams opted against pursuing Brown in March because of concerns over his knee.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Brown also was a diva for the Eagles, publicly expressing disappointment throughout his four-year tenure and feuding with Jalen Hurts. This on a team that made the playoffs each year, and fed Brown more than 120 targets in three of the seasons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Brown costs a good chunk of money, too. The Patriots owe him $29 million this year and $21 million next year, which isn\u2019t bad if Brown keeps playing like an elite receiver, but isn\u2019t cheap, either.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The red flags can be overlooked or explained away. The fact that Mike Vrabel and many of the offensive coaches know Brown well from their time together in Tennessee is crucial.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But it\u2019s notable that the Patriots were the only team engaging the Eagles in trade talks the last few months.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Given that backdrop, the price the Patriots paid for Brown is stunning \u2014 a 2028 first-round pick, plus a 2027 fifth-rounder. Yes, the first-round pick is two years from now, and the Patriots expect to be competitive, but who knows? The Chiefs certainly didn\u2019t expect to go 6-11 and have the No. 9 pick this year. Come 2028, the Patriots will miss that pick.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThat\u2019s a terrific return for the Eagles for A.J. Brown at this stage of his career,\u201d said salary-cap expert Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>If the bidding for Brown were competitive, then giving up a 2028 first-rounder would be a no-brainer. But the Patriots were bidding against themselves, yet still gave up a premium pick.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1823\">Owners\u2019 salary cap proposal, rejected by the players, is the first salvo in MLB labor strife<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>It\u2019s true, the Eagles weren\u2019t going to trade Brown until after June 1, but the Patriots didn\u2019t have to pounce right away. They could have made the Eagles sweat it out a bit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Monday night, I made an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio to discuss the trade, and former Chargers and Raiders general manager Tom Telesco asked me why the Patriots weren\u2019t more patient.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThey were really the only team really negotiating with the Eagles, so they have all the leverage in this situation, because it looked like the Eagles were going to trade A.J. Brown, but they only had one team to send him to,\u201d Telesco said. \u201cAny sense that the Pats could have just waited out a little longer and try to save the one?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Based on the 15 posts from the Patriots\u2019 social media account, no, it doesn\u2019t seem the Patriots had any interest in waiting. The Patriots wanted Brown, and making the trade now allows him to attend practices for two weeks and get on the same page with Drake Maye and the offense before training camp begins.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It would be na\u00efve, though, not to consider another reason for making the trade now \u2014 to distract from the episode involving Vrabel and Dianna Russini. Tuesday\u2019s media session was previously scheduled to be open to the media, and it turned into the A.J. Brown Show, from Vrabel\u2019s news conference, to the interviews with the offensive coaches, to Brown being the focus at practice, to Brown speaking to reporters afterward.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It certainly seems the Patriots were so desperate to move past the Vrabel-Russini story that they were willing to overpay for Brown.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cA first-round pick\u2019s a first-round pick,\u201d Eagles GM Howie Roseman said. \u201cDoesn\u2019t matter. Team\u2019s still going to be playing football in 2028.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>There\u2019s also a question of how much the Patriots have actually improved. The additions of Brown and Romeo Doubs are solid, but the Patriots already released Diggs, and it looks like Kayshon Boutte, who has been absent all spring, might be the next to go. That\u2019s 118 catches, 1,564 yards, and 10 touchdowns out the door, from two players who built a solid rapport with Maye and helped the Patriots reach the Super Bowl.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>I\u2019d like the Brown and Doubs moves more were the Patriots able to keep Diggs or Boutte and move on from DeMario Douglas or Efton Chism. Instead, the Patriots might just be reshuffling the deck chairs at the top of the depth chart.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Adding Brown is certainly exciting, and will sell a lot of jerseys this summer. But the facts are that the Patriots gave up a first-round pick and more, for a moody, expensive receiver with a bad knee, even though they were bidding against themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Brown is here, and the Patriots are probably better off, but this trade is hardly perfect.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1821\">Pete Alonso is heating up for the Orioles, but Craig Breslow got the Red Sox\u2019 trade for Willson Contreras right<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brown, who turns 29 at the end of this month, has some red flags. He has chronic knee issues that will likely require him to miss practices this year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Trading for A.J. 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