PATRIOTS NEWS OFFICIAL: Patriots Finally Acquire AJ Brown

[upstater1]

To all the worry warts about that 2028ist Rounder...Remember FA is part of the process...just trust the process.

If we could land a #1 WR in FA it would've been done a long time ago. Same goes for LT, DE, CB. We've learned that FA is good for adding complementary pieces. Teams are built through the draft.

 

[UGAPatsfan]

Honestly?

Weapons-wise the Pats have plenty to be a VERY dangerous offense.

My concern is the O-line derailing the skill players.

I’m not sure we have the right players OR the right O line coach.

That line got absolutely embarrassed in the playoffs and it wasn’t all on Will Campbell

 

[upstater1]

We also have no idea how effective pick 24+ will be in 2 years. Big risk to bank on that and not add a legitimate WR1 for your young QB now.

This goes for every draft.

Drake Maye will hopefully be here for a very long time.

Teams have to hit on top draft choices to be successful. There are no shortcuts.

I don't know of any team that FA's and traded their way to the top. It was done with the draft.

 

[mikey m]

It is more complicated than that. I just posted a long explanation below. Please read that. I hope the trade works out.

It’s even still more complicated than what you wrote which ultimately boils down to degenerative knee issue = small discount that no other (obviously smarter) teams wanted.

There’s multiple reasons for teams to not want Brown.

1. They are not in a competitive window within 2-3 years (this eliminates most of the league)

2. Brown’s propensity to be bad in the locker room / clear desire to be with one specific team (applies to everyone, BUT applies to us to a much smaller extent due to his obvious huge desire to be a part of this franchise, rapport with Vrabel, and benefit a good young quarterback).

3. They are already set with talent/investment in their WR room.

4. Cap room. Despite his low hits this and next year, there is still the looming void year that needs to be dealt with. We have the room and flexibility to deal with it easily.

These are all legitimate reasons beyond just Stage 4 knee cancer, player will be mediocre starting this year, everyone knew it but us.

He makes plenty of sense for us, much less for any other team. You can say that means we bid against ourselves. Ultimately, we had to negotiate with the seller. Did the Pats give in too easily? Would Roseman have accepted less if we stuck to our guns? Nobody knows the answers to these questions. All that matters is if Brown resembles the player he’s been through his whole career for 2+ years.

 

[mayoclinic]

‘Better late than never’: For A.J. Brown, trade to Patriots fulfills childhood dream

A.J. Brown wanted the Patriots to draft him in 2019. He cried when they took N’Keal Harry instead. Seven years later, he’s finally playing for his “childhood team.”

www.bostonherald.com

 

[mayoclinic]

AJ Brown explains how Jalen Hurts friendship deteriorated before Patriots trade

That relationship faded during their four seasons together in Philly.

nypost.com

 

[mikey m]

This goes for every draft.

Drake Maye will hopefully be here for a very long time.

Teams have to hit on top draft choices to be successful. There are no shortcuts.

I don't know of any team that FA's and traded their way to the top. It was done with the draft.

And it’s true every draft, particularly when you’re drafting towards the end.

The Rams are currently doing it.

Trading away one late 1st rounder for a position you have historically struggled at drafting =/= trying to trade your way to the top.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

His " bad atttitude" was because they were practicing an offensive game plan all week and on game day Hurts ignored it and did what he wanted to. But at least Captain KKK agrees with you.

Time will tell. I'll give the trade a chance but I do think they had the leverage to get him for a second. Trade was worst kept secret

 

[moosekill]

One you are usually an ok poster. Time to put down the slide rule and go play softball. This is almost universally being called at a minimum a great pickup for the Pats. The only people complaining are you, Felgar and Triumph. Perhaps you should either re-evaluate or at least calm the **** down.

 

[upstater1]

And it’s true every draft, particularly when you’re drafting towards the end.

The Rams are currently doing it.

Trading away one late 1st rounder for a position you have historically struggled at drafting =/= trying to trade your way to the top.

Have they struggled drafting DLs?

They traded Jared Verse. A good young pass rusher.

They have Braden Fiske. another good young pass rusher. When they won it in 2022, they were lead by another DL Aaron Donald.

They have OLBs/Edges Byron Young and Kobie Turner who in the last 3 years have combined for over 50 sacks!!!!!!

The Rams are a team that has done exceedingly well drafting pass rushers who play on the LOS. I just named 5 guys.

But why are people comparing the Patriots to the Rams?

The Rams have a very short window with a very old QB.

I've seen multiple posts make this same claim.

AND, the Rams haven't won anything using this method.

The time they won the Super Bowl their two top players outside of Stafford were Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp, both of them players they drafted.

In fact, I'd argue they got cooked using this method.

They gave up 2 first round draft picks and more for Jalen Ramsey, and he gave them a great All-Pro year. Fantastic! But 2 picks for a short-termer? They went 15-19 with him in this final 2 years before he was gone. A very STEEP PRICE that lead to 2 underwhelming seasons.

 

[Hyped]

Hyped, why are your cap numbers for the next 4 years so much higher than the 7,10, 11, and 23 numbers I've been seeing so often

We are on the hook for 99.7M the next 4 years. And my numbers come from SportTrac.

As I understand it, there isn’t much guaranteed money the last two years of the deal….

 

[mikey m]

Have they struggled drafting DLs?

They traded Jared Verse. A good young pass rusher.

They have Braden Fiske. another good young pass rusher. When they won it in 2022, they were lead by another DL Aaron Donald.

They have OLBs/Edges Byron Young and Kobie Turner who in the last 3 years have combined for over 50 sacks!!!!!!

The Rams are a team that has done exceedingly well drafting pass rushers who play on the LOS. I just named 5 guys.

But why are people comparing the Patriots to the Rams?

The Rams have a very short window with a very old QB.

I've seen multiple posts make this same claim.

AND, the Rams haven't won anything using this method.

The time they won the Super Bowl their two top players outside of Stafford were Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp, both of them players they drafted.

In fact, I'd argue they got cooked using this method.

They gave up 2 first round draft picks and more for Jalen Ramsey, and he gave them a great All-Pro year. Fantastic! But 2 picks for a short-termer? They went 15-19 with him in this final 2 years before he was gone. A very STEEP PRICE that lead to 2 underwhelming seasons.

My “historically struggled at drafting” comment was us re: wide receivers.

So you’re going to discount Stafford and Ramsey and the fact that they shipped off four 1st rounders to secure that Super Bowl and are continuing this strategy? Edit: or the 2nd and 3rd round picks they gave up for Von Miller halfway through the year.

They got cooked? They were right in the mix last year and will be this year. 2 underwhelming seasons? Who cares.

They’re finding success with this strategy. But yes, the point is moot since we aren’t doing remotely anything like that. But trying to act like they’ve been successful because of the draft and trading picks has doomed them and now the Pats are trying to take shortcuts that don’t exist is nonsense.

 

[mayoclinic]

One you are usually an ok poster.

Much better than ok.

Time will tell how Brown holds up and what he brings. Whether his knees are shot will be a major factor. The sunk cost is in the books, now we should all be rooting for a 2007-like ROI.

 

[Urgent]

Just watched Lazars breakdown of AJ Brown on Patriots.com
What stands out is how many inaccurate passes Brown hauled in.
Put him with someone more accurate and he could be very dangerous.

 

[ivanvamp]

Evaluating the Patriots' offensive position groups:

QB: Elite starter in Maye. The backups are...whatever...just hope they don't have to use them too often!

RB: Really nice 1-2 punch in Stevenson and Henderson, who I hope really takes a big leap forward this year. Miller and Jennings are whatever, but who knows...maybe one of them will be good. The new FB, Gilliam, is a sledgehammer and will help a lot.

WR: Now the WR room is Brown, Doubs, Douglas, Hollins, Boutte, and Williams. That's....terrific. Elite WR1, really nice WR2, size in Hollins, speed in Williams, and Boutte just makes plays while Douglas is useful. Excellent group. Add Chism in there as well.

TE: Was better before Hill (great blocking TE) got hurt. Even so, Henry is solid and has more in the tank, and I really am excited for Raridon. I think he's going to be terrific.

So up to this point, everything looks fantastic. Great collection of skill players around an elite QB in Maye. So as always, this comes down to the OL.

OL: Loved the trade of Bradbury and moving Wilson to C. Loved the signing of Vera-Tucker. He's fantastic, WHEN HEALTHY. Onwenu and Moses are a nice veteran right side of the line. Campbell...well, he was solid before he got hurt, and then he was really bad after that. So....who knows. But they added some OL help in the draft, particularly first rounder Lomu, and they've also got some solid bench performers in Brown and Wallace. This group has the potential to be sucky, if a few things go wrong (Campbell stays bad, Moses gets really old really fast, Onwenu loses a step, Wilson isn't ready for prime time at C, and Vera-Tucker gets hurt - a few of those things happen and the OL could be sunk). But they also have the potential to be...great...if Campbell steps up, Vera-Tucker is healthy, Wilson adapts nicely to C, and the old vets on the right side remain solid. If the OL is solid this year, the offense is going to be an absolute monster.

 

[TommyD4207]

Honestly?

Weapons-wise the Pats have plenty to be a VERY dangerous offense.

My concern is the O-line derailing the skill players.

I’m not sure we have the right players OR the right O line coach.

That line got absolutely embarrassed in the playoffs and it wasn’t all on Will Campbell

It's going to hinge on Vera-Tucker's health, and whether Wilson will miraculously be good at center.
We're going to have to deal with Onwenu for another year.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

It’s even still more complicated than what you wrote which ultimately boils down to degenerative knee issue = small discount that no other (obviously smarter) teams wanted.

What a great post. Thanks a million. If I didn't know better I would have thought this was a @mayoclinic post. Another great poster.

There’s multiple reasons for teams to not want Brown.

1. They are not in a competitive window within 2-3 years (this eliminates most of the league)

2. Brown’s propensity to be bad in the locker room / clear desire to be with one specific team (applies to everyone, BUT applies to us to a much smaller extent due to his obvious huge desire to be a part of this franchise, rapport with Vrabel, and benefit a good young quarterback).

Let's hope Brown's inevitable decline (Father Time is undefeated) is becoming obvious to him, but maybe not. Who knows.

3. They are already set with talent/investment in their WR room.

4. Cap room. Despite his low hits this and next year, there is still the looming void year that needs to be dealt with. We have the room and flexibility to deal with it easily.

These are all legitimate reasons beyond just Stage 4 knee cancer, player will be mediocre starting this year, everyone knew it but us.

I think all teams know it, and the Pats know it too. I think the NFL is hugely incestuous - everyone knows almost everything because the players, their GFs, and their agents can't shut up.

He makes plenty of sense for us, much less for any other team.

I am not sure about "any other team" but I accept much less than for almost any other team.

You can say that means we bid against ourselves. Ultimately, we had to negotiate with the seller. Did the Pats give in too easily? Would Roseman have accepted less if we stuck to our guns? Nobody knows the answers to these questions. All that matters is if Brown resembles the player he’s been through his whole career for 2+ years.

There is no way to know if we bid against ourselves or not. I think it is a HUGE risk (AJB's knee is degenerative) but we got a huge discount. I think AJB will last 2 years becaue Vrabel is smart enough to sit him every week and twice on Sundays.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

It's going to hinge on Vera-Tucker's health, and whether Wilson will miraculously be good at center.

Yup, that is right. And if Vera-Tucker can not stay healthy the OL rebuild just got longer.

We're going to have to deal with Onwenu for another year.

Omwenu is All-Pro. Just ask PatsFans posters - LOL.

 

[TommyD4207]

Yup, that is right. And if Vera-Tucker can not stay healthy the OL rebuild just got longer.

Omwenu is All-Pro. Just ask PatsFans posters - LOL.

The same people who think Onwenu is an all-pro, are the same people *****ing that we don't run screens.
The Patriots don't run screens because Onwenu can't get out on a screen. Every time they tried, it got blown up, so they stopped doing it.

If Vera-Tucker does stay healthy, and hopefully some of it was Jets Flu, it's going to be one of the best under-the-radar signings this team has had in a while.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

The same people who think Onwenu is an all-pro, are the same people *****ing that we don't run screens.
The Patriots don't run screens because Onwenu can't get out on a screen. Every time they tried, it got blown up, so they stopped doing it.

Patricia tried to run outisde zone and it did not work. He was wrong for trying without mobile OLmen. That is the same as screens. Onwenu and Moses prevent Outside Zone runs and screens. If Vera-Tucker works out (I am concerned the PEDs led to his injuries) then we will be running Outside Zone and Screens in 2027.

If Vera-Tucker does stay healthy, and hopefully some of it was Jets Flu, it's going to be one of the best under-the-radar signings this team has had in a while.

I hope you are right. Heavy PED use can lead to a career like Vera-Tucker's career. That is my concern.