Patriots insider delivers bad news on rumors of pulling off blockbuster trade for Eagles' A.J. Brown

With the New England Patriots hiring Mike Vrabel and the team’s glaring need at wide receiver, a logical target appears to be A.J. Brown, who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles. However, Patriots Insider Doug Kyed has shot down these rumors.

The Boston Herald reporter explained in his weekly mailbag segment why it would be very difficult to trade for Brown. The primary reason he noted is that he has doubts as to whether the Eagles would be a willing trade partner:

"The biggest question is whether the Eagles would even be open to trading him because even if he’s unhappy, which he’s seemed at times this season playing with Jalen Hurts, he’s still one of their best offensive players."

Kyed then went into another issue, A.J. Brown's contract:

"His contract is also prohibitive in potentially dealing him. Trading Brown before June 1 would actually subtract cap space from the Eagles’ books."

Kyed suggested four other wide receivers that the Patriots could target in the trade market instead, namely, Drake London, Garrett Wilson, DK Metcalf and George Pickens.

Patriots coach Mike Vrabel 'loves A.J. Brown to death'

Mike Vrabel coached A.J. Brown for three seasons with the Tennessee Titans. Brown blossomed into a star, having more than 1,000 yards receiving in two of the three seasons.

Brown was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles during the 2022 draft and Vrabel was filmed being visibly dismayed in the Titans draft war room. Before the draft, Vrabel was adamant that Brown was not going to be traded.

“Not as long as I’m the head coach”, he was quoted as saying. The general manager of the Titans at that time, Jon Robinson, was eventually fired in the same year. Three years on and in his introductory press conference as the new head coach of the Patriots, Mike Vrabel was full of praise for his former player.

“I’m proud of his development, his personal development, and working on himself, and working on controlling his — and getting back to center,” Vrabel said of A.J. Brown. “He’s a passionate player, and I love him to death, and I have a very, very close relationship with him.”

In the same media event, Vrabel also elaborated on what he is looking for in a receiver, arguably the Patriots' biggest roster need.

“Receivers that have great catch radius, that can create separation, that are good against contested catches. Because when you’re contested and PBUs go up in the air, then they get intercepted, right? And then that now that leads to turnovers, which then changes field position and all these things.”

It will be interesting to see who the Pats go after in the coming months, or if they look to resolve their problem in the 2025 NFL draft.