The problems with the Philadelphia Eagles offense aren’t going to be able to be fixed in the next month. There’s still games to be played and a Super Bowl to defend.
This offseason, however, could be a time of reckoning.
ESPN’s Dan Graziano put always-complaining Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown at the top of his list of NFL stars who could be either trade or cut in the offseason. It’s a move that could inject some balance back into the Eagles locker room after several years of turmoil caused by Brown and his inability to be a team player.
“It’s also well within the range of potential outcomes that Brown wants out and/or the Eagles decide to move on,” Graziano wrote. “Should that happen, it would almost certainly have to be via a trade, since Brown is owed a fully guaranteed $29 million in 2026. As such, releasing him would trigger nearly $72.5 million in dead cap charges. Trading him, meanwhile, would drop that number to around $43.5 million, which is still high but more manageable. The Eagles and/or Brown would have to be highly motivated to separate, but depending on the way the rest of this season goes, that could end up being the case.”
Brown Might Not Be Elite WR Anymore
Brown, one of the NFL’s dominant wide receiver over the last decade, is in the midst of his worst season as a pro and is coming off one of his worst performances in an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 14.
Against the Chargers, Brown dropped a dime from quarterback Jalen Hurts in the end zone that hit him in stride. Brown dropped another pass across the middle in which he appeared to pull his arms back to avoid contact that led to an interception.
“A.J. Brown has spent a lot of time complaining this season about not getting the ball and the last 3 games, he’s getting the ball as much as he can handle or getting thrown to as much as he can handle,” ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith said on “First Take” on Tuesday, December 9. “But you know what else has happened the last 3 games? The Eagles have been losing. And he dropped that touchdown pass and that interception, that was Alligator Arms, that was his fault.”
Eagles Could Get Major Haul for Brown
Trading Brown would be the biggest deal the Eagles have made … since they originally traded with the Tennessee Titans for Brown before the 2022 season.
The really amazing thing here is there are so many teams who would probably want Brown, there’s a good chance one of them might swap a first round pick for him, straight up, or send a high level starting wide receiver to the Eagles in exchange for him.
There are teams who might be specifically prone to trading for a player of Brown’s caliber in order to help a young quarterback. That might mean waiting until after the 2026 NFL draft — or the day of — to make a deal for the 3-time NFL All-Pro and 3-time Pro Bowler.
Eagles Predicted to Part Ways With $96 Million WR A.J. Brown