Getty Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown.
The Philadelphia Eagles made a blockbuster move during the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft by sending the 18th and 101st overall picks to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for wide receiver A.J. Brown. The move gave quarterback Jalen Hurts yet another great weapon to throw to and helped the Eagles make it to the Super Bowl.
With that being said — Philadelphia wasn’t the only team that tried to trade for Brown in 2022. In fact, there were two other teams, one of which was the Kansas City Chiefs.
“I had been getting a couple teams [that wanted to trade for me], like — the Chiefs tried to get me, a couple of other teams — the Jets…but Philly was making a strong push,” Brown said on Raw Room’s February 20 episode at about the 40:50 mark.
Jalen Hurts Initiated Trade for A.J. Brown
The “strong push” from the Eagles was mainly due to quarterback Jalen Hurts, who got to know A.J. Brown off the field and wanted Philadelphia to trade for him, according to Brown. So, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman gave Hurts what he wanted, and Hurts paid the team back by having an MVP-caliber season.
Hurts completed 66.5% of his passes for 3,701 yards and 22 touchdowns, and also threw 6 interceptions in 15 regular season games, according to Pro Football Reference. He also ran for another 760 yards and scored 13 more touchdowns with his legs.
An argument can be made that Hurts’ best performance of the season came during Super Bowl LVII. Against Kansas City’s defense, Hurts completed 71% of his passes for 304 yards and 1 touchdown in the air along with 70 rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns. It was an effort that would have earned him the Super Bowl MVP Award had the Eagles won.
During the 2022-2023 regular season, Brown finished third among all receivers in receiving touchdowns (11) and fourth in receiving yards (1,496). During Philadelphia’s Super Bowl run, Brown caught 13 passes for 146 receiving yards and 1 touchdown in 3 playoff games, per Pro Football Reference.
What Chiefs Did Without A.J. Brown
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach likely inquired about a trade for A.J. Brown after he had already traded Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins. But in the end, the Chiefs opted to not make a move for Brown, which worked out for them as well.
The day after the Chiefs traded Hill, Kansas City signed receiver Marquez Valdez-Scantling to a three-year, $30 million contract. The Chiefs then went on to sign JuJu Smith-Schuster to a one-year deal and drafted Skyy Moore in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
For the entirety of the season, a combination of MVS, JuJu, Moore, Mecole Hardman, and Justin Watson help the Chiefs produce at an elite level offensively, particularly in the passing game alongside tight end Travis Kelce.
Smith-Schuster led all Chiefs receivers in receiving yards (933) and catches (78). MVS had career-high postseason yardage during the AFC Championship (116) and scored in every game except for the Super Bowl during Kansas City’s postseason run. Moore scored his first career receiving touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl and had a clutch punt return in the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship that set the Chiefs up for the game-winning field goal.
This isn’t mean to be a defense for why the Chiefs are better off without A.J. Brown. Having a receiver like him on any team will make that team better offensively. However, this is rather to explain that the Chiefs were able to go a cheaper route and get enough production from its receivers, in part because of superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was named the league MVP and Super Bowl MVP.