PATRIOTS NEWS OFFICIAL: Patriots Finally Acquire AJ Brown

[Zuma]

 

[TheRainMaker]

Eagles are the biggest loser in this. They are losing their best WR which going to put a lot of attention on Smith. Hurts already has a hard time locating open receivers and Barkley could fall off a cliff tomorrow. They can't use the pick for until 2028. Brown leaving does absolutely nothing for the team for this season and 2027.

Eagles will be resetting in soon as their Super Bowl window is just about shut. The only way they get lucky again is if the rest of the NFC implodes like they did in 2024.

 

[patfanken]

You should really stop top crying about a lost election. It's not like it was close.

BTW, it is a class move by Brown to switch his number to 1. Edelman was one of his favorite WRs. So it is clear that he didn't want to take Edelman's number with the Patriots out of respect.

Ya know, I thought it was kinda nice that AJ was a Pats fan growing up as a kid. It was a nice aside to the overall story, but that's all. After seeing this clip and the Pats rug in that interview, I had no idea how RABID a Pats fan he was. This clip is like what I would expect if Patjew opening up an Edelman jersey. It was NUTS, his reaction. It DEFINATELY warms the soul. His joy was like he grew up in Dorchester and played at BC and not somewhere in Mississippi

 

[Drunken Cicerone]

Eagles are the biggest loser in this. They are losing their best WR which going to put a lot of attention on Smith. Hurts already has a hard time locating open receivers and Barkley could fall off a cliff tomorrow. They can't use the pick for until 2028. Brown leaving does absolutely nothing for the team for this season and 2027.

Eagles will be resetting in soon as their Super Bowl window is just about shut. The only way they get lucky again is if the rest of the NFC implodes like they did in 2024.

They’ll certainly have work to do they’re a very one dimensional offense. They’ve essentially replaced AJ Brown with Hollywood Brown and Elijah Moore and Saquon has a lot of mileage, injury history and will be 30.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

The Athletic - Pats needed a receiver that can win against Man and so force teams out of single-high safety:
(gift link)

Why Patriots felt A.J. Brown was missing piece following their Super Bowl loss

Opposing defenses thought man coverage could stop the Patriots last season. So they traded for one of the league's best WRs against man.

www.nytimes.com

 

[TheRainMaker]

By the way, this is exactly why you decline Stefon Diggs' cap hit which many on here where throwing fits over at the thought of it during the 2025 season. They wouldn't have had this opportunity if they freaked out and kept him around.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

But how did he pass his physical with shredded fluid-filled knees?!??!

He didn’t have the Ravens doctor, that’s for sure.

 

[UGAPatsfan]

1st rounders are important, but AJ Brown is a known high level commodity and we have the cap space. I tend to think his knee holds out at least 2 years, at which point the Pats can save a significant amount of money with releasing him.

Patriots first round draft picks since 2014:

2014- Dominique Easley
2015- Malcom Brown
2016- No pick
2017- No pick
2018- Isaiah Wynn and Sony Michel
2019- N'Keal Harry
2020- No Pick
2021- Mac Jones
2022- Cole Strange
2023- Christian Gonzalez
2024- Drake Maye
2025- Will Campbell
2026- Caleb Lomu

11 picks. 6 outright busts.
A 7th player, Sony Michel, was an important contributor to the SB his rookie season, but overall a semi-bust.

I’d say Wynn is exactly the same as Michel…played a role for a bit but not 1st round worthy.

Gonzo and Maye are the only names on that list that make you say “great pick”.

Campbell…could go either way and Lomu is a rookie. Campbell was the 4 overall and thus will he graded more harshly if he ends up a JAG tackle or good guard.

Also, that list is depressing as hell. If you added second rd picks for the same timeframe ot looks even worse. Explains why Vrabel had to overhaul roster and add expensive FA’s.

 

[Give Kraft A Hand]

He didn't say he thought it was bad, he just complained a little about the cost. He defintely thought it was a move they should make.

Half the board was saying “What does Diggs do that Pop can’t”

Apparently go for 1k

 

[Carl_Lippbaum]

First 3 years are very friendly indeed.

While 2029 isn’t guaranteed, the Pats will have a $46m dead cap charge if they don’t pick up his option for that year. And if they don’t pick up his option, the contract voids after the season so the Pats will have $53m dead cap charge in 2030, right when we need to start paying Maye serious money. I expect they’ll try to do something to his contract to get those amounts down, but for now that’s what will happen.

I could be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure all dead money including void year(s) stays with the Eagles. Pats would be responsible for any new guaranteed money/signing bonuses etc. So the Pat's are not on the hook for a big cap hit

 

[PatsFanSince74]

If we get 3 WR1 years out of AJ, and he does his part in deep playoff runs, how is that not worth it? Right out of the gate, week 1 in Seattle, 100 yards and a TD. Helps Maye become MVP, other FA receivers line up when he's done. It's worth it.

That's a lot of "if's" for a number 1 (and a #5 in Drafts where pretty good players can fall to #6) for a WR who's somewhere between the "height" and "tail-end" of his career. I don't think this is a "3 WR1 years" kind of bet. I'll stick by what I posted: it's a Lombardi bet.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Make sure and keep the hands back, maintain balance, and squish the bug

Yup. I agree. I am getting there. I have to hold my front foot too which throws off maintaining my balance like you say.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

I like how he said the trade to the Pats was like Christmas. People in the media have been saying it would be a perfect fit, probably since last year. I agree with that. I think it’s gonna be awesome.

Straight up, he's a Pats Fan, for what that's worth (usually not much, but the stars aligned & it is great in a new hire... most people playing in the NFL are like "that was my team growing up, but it's a business." He gets to be the star on the team he dreamed of starring on.)

 

[Thunderhead]

It's awesome that a player or Brown's caliber wants to be in NE as badly as he does. The love he will be shown by this fanbase will be unreal.

 

[rochrist]

Hurts already proved that he is a SB winner.

There is a pretty long line of bad SB-winning QBs.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Love it. Our offense was weak in the postseason. We have made crazy strides to fix it.

Let’s go punch Seattle in the mouth.

Right? Keep it simple, stupid, and put up 400 yards and 4 TDs against that amazing Seattle D (or just win).

 

[Hammer of Thor]

I could be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure all dead money including void year(s) stays with the Eagles. Pats would be responsible for any new guaranteed money/signing bonuses etc. So the Pat's are not on the hook for a big cap hit

The Eagles aren’t responsible for the void years because they hadn’t exercised the option bonuses associated with them. The Eagles are responsible for his 2022 and 2024 signing bonuses and his 2025 option bonus. And since any bonus can only be spread for 5 years maximum for salary cap purposes, none of those items extended into the void years (for example, the 2025 option bonus would have been amortized from 2025-2029, but it’s now 2025-2027 for the Eagles because of the trade).

The 2026 option bonus and beyond, the Pats are responsible for, and those would extend into the void years (2026 option bonus, the last year is 2030 which is the first void year; 2027 option bonus will amortize through 2031 which is now 2 void years, etc.).

 

[hornetfb85]

Yup. I agree. I am getting there. I have to hold my front foot too which throws off maintaining my balance like you say.

Now the question is how is your defense. Infielder or outfielder? How’s the cannon? Are you a Roger Dorn ole kinda defender or are you gonna take one off the chest to keep it in front?

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Glad you brought this up. It is a key point. Brown's physical style and exceptional hands make him one of the best WR's in the league against man coverage based on the stats I've seen here. Diggs was the best at it for the Pats last season, but Brown is a lot better and you can set the difference in that clip of his 2025 catches. A part of the reason the Pats offense struggled that isn't mentioned much is that their WR's had trouble getting open against tight man coverages.

I read another interesting stat that goes against all the "chronic knee" conversations. IIRC Brown ended up missing just 8 ga, mes over the course of his 4-year Philly career. Let's face it, his knees may be problematic, but they aren't keeping him off the field.

BTW- If Howie wants to claim he got 1st round value for Brown, he needed to receive a 2026 first round pick and not wait 2 full seasons before he can claim it. Plus there seems to be more evidence that that pick will likely end up being a late round pick (after 25) and we also know that there can be wildly different talent levels in that first round. At least 2 levels and sometimes even 3. Yet we gave up a 1, but it's more likely that not that we will have also added a top 8 talent at WR that we don't have to wait 2-3 years to develop into his potential.

The fact that I'm sitting here typing and the only think I can think to ***** about is a 27 5th rounder kind of tells you that this was a pretty good deal.

BTW- for the "we were bidding against ourselves" crowd, consider this, Suppose he HAD played hard ball with Howie and didn't budge off the 27 2nd and 4 or a player kind of deal, Howie could have easily said to us, "**** you, if that is what the market is then I'll just trade him to the Bills LAC, or Jets for that price or less. Don't **** with me" Remember the issue with other teams was the pick price as well as the knees. So all we could crow about then would be what a good job we did lowering the price for some other team.

I just don't want to spend another minute stressing about a 2028 1st. The more I read, the more I feel deep in my bones that these will be AJB's defining years -- probably early post-trade exuberance, but he is set up to be the target Drake hits instead of eating the ball or taking off running... in addition to a downfield threat. Add to that that the D can't pin back its ears and take advantage of our (no longer weak) pass protection, and that already proficient and efficient O is about to become the "Oh ohhhh, they're back" Offense. I didn't want to get like this but right now I'm a little giddy. But yeah, boo hoo, we should have only traded a 2nd in 2028. You have to be an idiot to think that's an issue -- are they actually thinking they'll do better than a guaranteed competitor/contributor, by picking in the high 20s? Shiiiiih.

 

[mayoclinic]

I just don't want to spend another minute stressing about a 2028 1st.

The way I prefer to think about it, we traded a 2025 5th for AJ Brown, and the Clown Commish docked us our 2028 1st for Highway Robbery.