With the offseason entering its upswing, the trade rumors surrounding Philadelphia Eagles receiver A.J. Brownare just getting off the ground.
Whether founded or unfounded, with Brown struggling and clearly perturbed throughout the disappointing 2025 campaign, trade speculation will occur. The big question is whether GM Howie Roseman is ready to pull the plug on the star receiver, cut his losses, and move on to the next. Or whether Philly is willing to ride out another campaign and hope the journey is smoother in 2026.
One connection that will get plenty of run in the coming weeks of speculation is a potential trade to New England. Regardless of what the Patriots do with Stefon Diggs‘s contract, New England should look to add to the WR room this offseason. With Drake Maye on a rookie deal, logic dictates they buffer the burgeoning young star with playmakers, even if they’re more expensive in the short term.
Before the trade to Philly in 2022, the wideout spent three seasons in Tennessee under current Patriots coach Mike Vrabel.
During a recent episode of the Dudes on Dudes Podcast with Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman, which was published on Thursday, Brown said he used to hate his former head coach.
“Vrabe is the type of coach that he’s going to call on you in the meetings,” Brown said. “He wants to make sure you’re staying engaged and he’s going to go over the keys to victory of the week. You better know them by the back of your hand. I used to write in my notebook because at the time, I really didn’t like Vrabes. I didn’t like him, and I admit that he knows that. So, I used to write, ‘I hate Vrabes, I hate Vrabes, I hate Vrabes.’ I was doing that to pretend like I was taking notes to look like I was engaged. But because he was so hard on me when I was a rookie and I really didn’t understand it. So, at the time I told Vrabes like, ‘Hey, like I’m humble already. You don’t got to humble me.’ But I really didn’t understand what he was trying to, you know, push me to be.
“Another little quick thing, he showed a clip and I ran like a bang-8 [route], and I scored and he praised me. So, I was kind of feeling good about myself, right? I’m a rookie and a couple of plays later, he showed me another play with the bang-8, and I get tackled. He was like, ‘What’s the difference between the first play and the second play?’ And he was like, ‘You’re tired.’ He was like, ‘That’s not going to cut it.’ He like, ‘That same mentality that you showed on the first play, you should do that all the time. That’s who you are. Like this right here, that’s not going to cut it.’ When I say he holds every single player accountable from top to bottom, I don’t care who it is, like that’s who he is. And it makes the team come together because nobody is bigger than the team. Nobody is bigger than the program, so you have to respect it.”
Time has a way of coloring our past differently than we viewed it in the moment. Based on how Brown spoke of Vrabel’s coaching tactics – not with animosity but a greater understanding of why the coach conducted meetings in such a way – could mean he’s open to a reunion.
While it’s anyone’s guess whether Vrabel would want Brown, who’s been a squeaky wheel in Philly, given how disgruntled the coach seemed the day Tennessee traded the wideout, we can at least surmise that the coach knows the talent Brown brings to the table.