Eagles reportedly telling teams they aren’t trading rumored Patriots target A.J. Brown
Brown has been rumored to be a possible trade target for the Patriots, as he's expressed displeasure over what's happening in Philadelphia.
The latest on Patriots’ possible pursuit of A.J. Brown: Patriots fans might want to take A.J. Brown off their trade deadline wishlists.
The Eagles are letting teams know that they aren’t planning to trade their star wide receiver anytime soon, according to The Athletic‘s Dianna Russini.
“I can tell you Philadelphia is telling teams they are not moving him,” Russini said on NBC Sports Boston’s “The Next Pats Podcast.” “They’re not. Because teams have called.”
Brown has been rumored to be a Patriots trade target on multiple occasions over the last couple of years, but the rumors of a possible deal involving Brown have seemed to pick up more steam as of late. While the Eagles are out to a 4-2 start, Brown has expressed displeasure with how things are going in Philadelphia. And there’s the obvious connection that Brown has with the Patriots, as Mike Vrabel was his head coach when they were with the Titans together for three seasons.
The Eagles’ offense has underperformed to this point, and Brown’s on pace to have the worst season of his seven-year career. His 45.7 receiving yards per game are a career low by over 20 yards, and he only has one receiving touchdown through six games.
So, while the Patriots might not be able to get Brown this season, Russini thinks there’s a chance that the Eagles trade the receiver at some point in the future.
That’s why Russini wouldn’t be surprised if the Eagles eventually trade Brown at some point in the future.
“We’ve seen trades happen in the past where the two sides just don’t want to be together anymore,” Russini added. “It’s pretty obvious to everybody watching. There’s dysfunction there, and something’s not working.
“A.J. Brown — he’s not happy. I don’t think that takes a lot of insider knowledge. He puts it out there for you. So, I think the challenge for Philly is going to be, can they actually make him happy?
“I can tell you New England is going to keep their eye on it. They’re going to call.”
Even though Drake Maye has emerged as one of the top quarterbacks in the league this season, getting some extra help for him in the passing game wouldn’t hurt. No Patriots wide receiver has more than 400 receiving yards through the first six weeks of the season, and only two have more than 110 receiving yards.
However, wide receiver might not be the most pressing need on the Patriots’ offense. New England’s running game has struggled this year, with Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson failing to make a big impact. They’re both rushing for fewer than four yards per carry, and Antonio Gibson is out for the season.
But Russini isn’t sensing that the Patriots are on the market for a running back.
“I don’t think they make a move there,” Russini said of the Patriots’ possible pursuit of a running back. “Teams I’ve talked to who I know are trying to move their running backs have not received calls from New England.
“That could change, of course. But I think they would have been ahead on this, I think if they felt the way fans felt about the running back play.”
With the Patriots sitting at 4-2 and a favorable schedule ahead, they’re certainly in a position to add ahead of the Nov. 4 trade deadline. Vrabel told reporters on Wednesday that the Patriots are seeking to improve the roster, though, regardless of record.
“I think we’ll just continue to try to strengthen the roster each and every day. Sometimes those are small moves, maybe bigger ones,” Vrabel said. “But I don’t think that, right now, those conversations are centered around what our record is currently. I don’t think that that’s something that really bears into it.”
Trivia: The Patriots memorably picked wide receiver N’Keal Harry in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft over A.J. Brown. However, they also used a second-round pick on a different player before the Titans took Brown with the 51st overall pick. Who was that player?
(Hint: He played defense)
Scores and schedule:
The Bruins lost the first game of their three-game road trip out West, falling to the Golden Knights, 6-5, on Friday. They’ll continue the road trip on Saturday when they take on the Avalanche at 9 p.m.
Boston College football hosts UConn on Saturday. The Eagles are looking to end a five-game losing streak in that game, which kicks off at noon.
The Patriots will play their last of three straight road games on Sunday when they take on the Titans in Tennessee. The game marks Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel’s first trip back to Nashville since the Titans fired him as head coach at the end of the 2023 season. Kickoff for that game is at 1 p.m.
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Mookie Betts and the Dodgers one game away from the World Series: The Dodgers are five wins away from going back-to-back. Betts helped the Dodgers take a 3-0 series lead in the NLCS by hitting an RBI single and making an impressive defensive play in their 3-1 win over the Brewers in Game 3.
Blue Jays even up ALCS: After losing the first two games of the ALCS at home, the Blue Jays have turned their best-of-seven series against the Mariners into a best-of-three. Max Scherzer had an impressive performance on the mound, while Vlad Guerrero Jr.’s seventh-inning home run helped the Blue Jays get an 8-2 victory.
Daily highlight: Sometimes, not scoring a touchdown is the smart play in football. Tee Higgins made the heads-up play in the final minutes of Thursday’s Steelers-Bengals game when he caught a deep pass from Joe Flacco, with the Cincinnati wide receiver sliding down to help the clock run. That allowed the Bengals to kick the game-winning field goal with just over 10 seconds remaining, giving them a 33-31 win.
On this day: It all changed for the Red Sox 21 years ago on Friday. Trailing 3-0 in the ALCS against the Yankees, the Red Sox needed a run in the ninth inning of Game 4. After Kevin Millar walked to start the inning, Dave Roberts memorably stole second before Bill Mueller knocked him in. David Ortiz hit the game-winning home run in the 12th inning, marking the first of four straight Red Sox wins to become the first team in MLB history to come back from a 3-0 series deficit.
Trivia answer: CB JoeJuan Williams
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