Getty Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown.
Philadelphia Eagles star wide receiver A.J. Brown has been dropping hints that he wants out of Philly, and the Kansas City Chiefs are among the betting favorites to trade for him.
According to Bookies.com, the Chiefs have the fourth-best odds to trade for Brown if he is put on the trade block (+575). The teams that have better odds than Kansas City are the Cincinnati Bengals (+475), the Indianapolis Colts (+450), and the Houston Texans (+400).
What to Know About A.J. Brown
Brown, 26, entered the NFL as a second-round draft pick of the Tennessee Titans in 2019. He broke onto the NFL scene with a rookie season that included 52 receptions, 1,051 yards, and 8 touchdowns.
The former Mississippi standout gathered 1,944 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns on 133 receptions during the 2020 and 2021 seasons combined and earned his first-ever Pro Bowl nod during the 2020 season.
On the night of the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, the Titans traded Brown to the Eagles in exchange for a 2022 first-round pick (No. 18 overall, WR Treylon Burks) and a 2022 third-round pick (No. 101 overall, TE Jeremy Ruckert). Along with trading for Brown, Philly also gave the star wideout a four-year, $100 million extension.
With QB Jalen Hurts throwing him passes, Brown set career-highs in targets (145), catches (88), and receiving yards (1,496), and tied his career-high in receiving touchdowns (11) during his first season with the Eagles in 2022.
This season, Brown yet again set career-highs in targets (158) and catches (106) but fell just short of setting a new career-high in receiving yards (1,456) and also had 7 receiving touchdowns.
Brown suffered an injury during Philadelphia’s regular season finale against the New York Giants that kept him sidelined during the Eagles’ 32-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Wild-Card Round of the playoffs.
A few days before the Eagles’ loss to the Bucs, Brown had scrubbed his Instagram account of all Eagles-related content and also deactivated his X/Twitter account. That, paired with a 1-5 finish to the regular season for the Eagles and a blowout loss in the first round of the playoffs, has led to rumors of Brown’s potential departure from Philly.
Are Chiefs a True Landing Spot for A.J. Brown?
Brown has three years remaining on his contract and has cap hits of $12.4 million, $26.5 million, and $41.5 million over the next three years respectively, according to Over The Cap. That means Kansas City would need to give Brown an extension as soon as the 2025 offseason, as that would reduce his cap hits over the next couple of years.
In terms of his fit with the Chiefs’ offense, Brown would fit perfectly in Kansas City. The Chiefs are currently lacking a bid-bodied receiver that can consistently win outside the numbers and in traffic, which is what Brown thrives on.
Plugging Brown into a Kansas City passing attack that has quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce, and receiver Rashee Rice would put the Chiefs back into elite territory offensively.
Though there’s no telling if this type of trade will ever happen, users on social media are linking Brown to the Chiefs.
“If I’m the chiefs I’m going after AJ Brown and not even looking back for a second,” one user wrote.
“Get that contract ready for AJ Brown next year. He deserves a chiefs uniform,” another user wrote.