The clock is ticking toward June 1. Which means the time is coming for an A.J. Brown trade.
The vibe has lingered for weeks that the Eagles will trade him. At this point, there’s only one viable destination: New England.
If there was another team pursuing Brown, we’d know about it. The Eagles would have leaked it. The goal would be to pit two teams against each other in the hopes of getting the best possible return.
As it stands, it’s the Patriots or no one. And with all indications pointing to the Eagles and Brown being beyond the point of no return, Philly’s only play is to make a deal.
They’ve already planned for life without A.J. From signing Hollywood Brown and Elijah Moore to trading for Dontavian Wicks to moving up in round one to draft Makai Lemon, the handwriting isn’t just written on the wall — it’s sandblasted into it.
But what of the report that the two sides are “not particularly close”? Our guess is that the Eagles deliberately leaked it as a Hail Mary effort to get someone else to come to the table.
Remember, nothing is done until it’s done. Even if the Patriots and the Eagles have an understanding as to what the terms will be, the Eagles could pivot elsewhere if they want.
The question is whether another team will swoop in. Even if that happens, it would have to be a team that Brown is comfortable joining. No, he doesn’t have a no-trade clause. Still, no team in its right mind will trade for Brown if Brown doesn’t particularly want to play for that team.
If Brown has decided he craves a reunion with Mike Vrabel, who coached Brown in Tennessee, a new team may not be thrilled about the prospect of giving up significant value for a player who would walk through the door reluctantly.
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