The Philadelphia Eagles may not have pulled off the kind of blockbuster haul some people expected when they sent A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots, but a new wrinkle makes that return look a lot different.
Philadelphia got a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round selection from New England. That was a respectable package, though it still came in below the first- and second-round return the Eagles were reportedly seeking earlier in the offseason. At the time, it looked like the Eagles might have left value on the table.
Now, there’s a reason to think the market for Brown never got as hot as it seemed.
Los Angeles was reportedly in the mix too, and the Rams were willing to put their own 2028 first-round pick on the table before ultimately stepping away. That detail came from NFL analyst Tom Pelissero, who recently discussed the situation on " The Bill Simmons Podcast."
"They work on at one point a trade of Davante Adams to the point that they tell Davante Adams, we're probably going to trade you. Or we might trade you because they're working on a trade for A.J.
Brown. They eventually back away from the A.J.
Brown trade," Pelissero said.
So why did the Rams pull out?
"There's medical stuff. He's had a long-running knee thing that everybody knows about going back to Tennessee, which is why they traded away years ago," Pelissero added.
That changes the way the Eagles’ return should be viewed. If one of Brown’s most serious suitors backed off because of what it found in the medical evaluation, Philadelphia wasn’t sitting on a gold mine of offers.
Roseman could want a premium package all he wanted, but a bidding war only works when multiple teams are willing to keep going. Once Los Angeles checked the file and moved on, the leverage disappeared.
Brown’s production in his final season with Philadelphia still looked strong. He finished with 78 catches for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns. On the field, that does not look like a player in obvious decline.
But the concern clearly wasn’t just about last season’s stat line. Brown dealt with knee and hamstring issues during his final two seasons with the Eagles, and the Rams reportedly saw the mix of his age, contract and medical history as too much risk.
New England came to a different conclusion. Brown passed his physical, and he has already started building chemistry with Drake Maye.
He also kept practicing after dislocating his thumb earlier in camp. Subtlety has never been his preferred operating system.
None of that guarantees the Patriots made the right long-term bet. Medical evaluations are only estimates. Los Angeles could still end up regretting its caution if Brown keeps overpowering defensive backs for Maye for years.
What it does suggest is that Philadelphia may have done about as well as it could have. The Eagles moved a pricey 29-year-old receiver whose time with the organization had clearly run its course, and they still landed a first-round pick even with another interested team reportedly walking away over health concerns.
The king’s ransom never fully materialized. Given the market Roseman was actually dealing with, the Eagles may have gotten as close as possible.
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