Patriots Rumor A.J. Brown trade rumors heat up - Should Patriots get him?

[p8ryts]

I think our D was closer to SB quality than our O.

OL was too thin, once injuries hit it was porous. WRs were good enough when OL gave the QB time, but without time the QB wasn’t up to the task especially with a wounded wing.

The defense played good enough to win the SB. They had zero support from the offense.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Philly's current WR depth chart:

- AJ Brown
- DeVonta Smith
- Makai Lemon
- Dontayvion Wicks
- Hollywood Brown
- Elijah Moore
- Darius Cooper
- Johnny Wilson
- Britain Covey
- Quez Watkins
- Danny Gray

Every one of the guys in bold is capable of starting. They have way too many WRs. Even if you subtract Brown, they still have a very good top 5. They will have someone like Elijah Moore who is a solid player riding the bench all year getting next to no snaps.

Let's hope you are right. Obviously them picking Lemon indicates Brown is on his way out

The Pats may be the only horse in the game right now, which is why there's a lot less talk about a 1st round draft pick

If they cool on requiring a player of Boutte's caliber in return, all the better,

Moore's not in the same class as the others but everyone else is as good or much better than Boutte so it's not like he's walking into a starting spot there - he'd be higher on the depth chart here, as is your point

 

[Froob]

Can't imagine how Eagles have the leverage to demand a first.

 

[Bill Lee]

The defense played good enough to win the SB. They had zero support from the offense.

The D had better injury luck than the O, IMO. We saw how soft the D looked when Williams lost time, same for Landry and Spillane, but they all made it back more or less. We saw how the O looked with Campbell playing injured and no one on the bench being viewed as able to play well enough to do better.

Bottom line to me is both O and D lack depth, yet one place we have good depth is the WR room. Bringing on a 29 year old WR with questionable knees to me is not a great team-building move. However it will piss off Amy Adams Strunk, which is a strong positive in my book.

 

[TommyD4207]

Can't imagine how Eagles have the leverage to demand a first.

They haven't for quite some time.
Now they'll struggle to get a 2nd. They have 10 WRs on the roster, including a first rounder they just drafted last night.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

The Vrabel stuff will mostly be forgotten by training camp. And don't be surprised if it isn't a 2028 pick for Roseman to save face. That way he can get a higher pick even though it won't have as much value as the same pick in 2027.

I'm not saying you're wrong that it will be forgotten by training camp. BUT if I posted last week that Vrabel was going to skip day 3 of the draft over this stuff people would have gotten banned for the names they would have called me. Maybe this goes away as a media story but this isn't solving itself in Vrabel's personal life anytime soon. PERSONALLY this will be a cloud hanging over him for a while and we've already seen that bleed into his professional life with missing the draft. I can't guarantee he doesn't end up missing some time in training camp or whatever. I'm already adverse to trading a future pick just because bad luck (injuries, a bunch of close loses, etc.) can entirely flip the value of the pick from where you project it and now there's a bit of a dark cloud over our team leader to consider as well.

I'm very, very against including the 2027 1st now all things considered. I guess the 2027 2nd is fine even if **** goes awful for us one way or another and it ends up being a high 2nd. 2028 1st I guess now you're kicking it so far out it's ok. But I still hope not.

 

[Ross12]

They haven't for quite some time.
Now they'll struggle to get a 2nd. They have 10 WRs on the roster, including a first rounder they just drafted last night.

I am gonna go out on a limb and say it's a 2027 3rd and 5th in exchange for Brown. They have three 6ths next year, so throwing in the 5th is easier to do.

There are a couple other players who may net new picks in 2027 if they are traded away as well, such as if they move Boutte after acquiring Brown, or possibly trading Onwenu or Barmore.

 

[TommyD4207]

I am gonna go out on a limb and say it's a 2027 3rd and 5th in exchange for Brown. They have three 6ths next year, so throwing in the 5th is easier to do.

This is kind of where it's sitting for me in my head, a 2nd would actually surprise me at this point.

And honestly, a 3rd and 5th for a price tag makes AJ Brown a lot more attractive in a trade. And you don't have to worry about Kayshon Boutte being involved in the deal either.

 

[Ross12]

This is kind of where it's sitting for me in my head, a 2nd would actually surprise me at this point.

And honestly, a 3rd and 5th for a price tag makes AJ Brown a lot more attractive in a trade. And you don't have to worry about Kayshon Boutte being involved in the deal either.

No, I think they'd move Boutte to some other team after the fact - or perhaps not, maybe they just keep him for the final year of his deal, see what happens, and then let him explore free agency. But the room would be really crowded.

 

[TommyD4207]

No, I think they'd move Boutte to some other team after the fact - or perhaps not, maybe they just keep him for the final year of his deal, see what happens, and then let him explore free agency. But the room would be really crowded.

For now.
If Boutte is here next year, you can pretty much guarantee Douglas and/or Chism will not be. Or maybe you move Hollins at that point (or try to), he's not getting any younger.

 

[Bill Lee]

Can't imagine how Eagles have the leverage to demand a first.

Seeing it from Howie's side, their fan base will think nothing but a first is enough to justify taking the salary cap hit. Also the fact is there are now several recent trades where veteran starters are traded for first rounders. If he takes anything less than a first, the mystique of Howie takes a big hit.

I have consistently said that I think this is a bad move from a team building perspective, but now also feel the deal has been agreed and it will be for at least a first. The idea that the deal is already done gets bolstered by the fact that Philly just took a WR in the first. They can now say look, it took a first to get someone good enough to replace Brown, we have to get a first back.

 

[BUSTAMOVE]

The Vrabel stuff will mostly be forgotten by training camp. And don't be surprised if it isn't a 2028 pick for Roseman to save face. That way he can get a higher pick even though it won't have as much value as the same pick in 2027.

Teams don’t care about Roseman saving face. He cannot keep AJ at this point with trading picks for a WR and drafting one in the 1st round. He has no cards to play. He needs the cap space. AJ would be a thorn in his side this year.
You don’t bail him out. You put his hands to the fire. But there is always a desperate team that swoops in.

 

[TommyD4207]

Seeing it from Howie's side, their fan base will think nothing but a first is enough to justify taking the salary cap hit. Also the fact is there are now several recent trades where veteran starters are traded for first rounders. If he takes anything less than a first, the mystique of Howie takes a big hit.

I have consistently said that I think this is a bad move from a team building perspective, but now also feel the deal has been agreed and it will be for at least a first. The idea that the deal is already done gets bolstered by the fact that Philly just took a WR in the first. They can now say look, it took a first to get someone good enough to replace Brown, we have to get a first back.

Nah, he'll spin it as a salary dump, and Red Sox AJ Brown on the way out the door.
He'll be fine.

 

[ViperGTS]

Nah, he'll spin it as a salary dump, and Red Sox AJ Brown on the way out the door.
He'll be fine.

Yeah he ain't getting first for Brown. Like you said, a 3rd and a 5th...it's more than enough.

 

[Bill Lee]

Teams don’t care about Roseman saving face. He cannot keep AJ at this point with trading picks for a WR and drafting one in the 1st round. He has no cards to play. He needs the cap space. AJ would be a thorn in his side this year.

Consensus is that the deal was locked down a few days ago as per the Schefter report, so what he did in the draft has no impact on the deal.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Eagles still have a window for one more run at a Super Bowl before Barkley hits the cliff which showed signs in 2025. Trading their best WR in Brown would assure them they won’t have any chance returning in the foreseeable future. Defenses will just stack the box on Barkley making Smith, Hollywood and the rookie to beat them. Hurts can’t complete a pass unless someone is ridiculously wide open.

 

[Huckleberry1]

I think our D was closer to SB quality than our O.

OL was too thin, once injuries hit it was porous. WRs were good enough when OL gave the QB time, but without time the QB wasn’t up to the task especially with a wounded wing.

And the WR's weren't getting open.

 

[Real fan 02]

For now.
If Boutte is here next year, you can pretty much guarantee Douglas and/or Chism will not be. Or maybe you move Hollins at that point (or try to), he's not getting any younger.

Hollins deal expires after this season unless he gets an extension. I'm starting to believe it's Boutte's camp who's putting the trade narrative out.. it's been mentioned here how he's not only missing from OTAs but missed the team session Drake organized! After all they accomplished last season it's pretty surprising him being one of our best players. I like Boutte and hope he remains.. AJ, Doubs, Boutte is a nice 3 wr set for a defense to have to deal with.

 

[slash83]

If it’s a 2027 1st it’s a hard no, 2nd I’m good with.

 

[Triumph]

Can't imagine how Eagles have the leverage to demand a first.

Philly is going to take a significant dead money cap hit on Brown and they gave up a 1st and 3rd for him 4 years ago.

It would be one thing if AB Jr. was declining, but he is still putting up high numbers. If you show him 140 + targets you're talking about a 1500 yard - 10 TD WR. I personally don't want his drama axx, but the Eagles just drafted his replacement which is what I want to do by taking a young producer on his rookie contract.