{"id":763167,"date":"2026-02-19T20:55:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T20:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/763167\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T20:55:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T20:55:34","slug":"does-this-mock-a-j-brown-trade-proposal-make-sense-for-patriots-nbc-sports-boston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/763167\/","title":{"rendered":"Does this mock A.J. Brown trade proposal make sense for Patriots? \u2013 NBC Sports Boston"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New England Patriots offense scored at a historically low rate<\/a> in the 2025 NFL playoffs and still reached the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

But they couldn’t overcome the final hurdle, which was an elite Seattle Seahawks defense. The result? A 29-13 loss in Super Bowl 60<\/a> that was actually worse than what the stat sheet would suggest. The Patriots’ offensive performance through three quarters was one of the worst in Super Bowl history. <\/p>\n

How can the Patriots upgrade their offense for next season?<\/p>\n

One area is wide receiver. <\/p>\n

The addition of Stefon Diggs in free agency last offseason proved to be an excellent one. He became the team’s first 1,000-yard wideout since Julian Edelman in 2019 and was great for the team culture. Even if he returns to the Patriots in 2026<\/a>, bolstering the talent level and depth at wide receiver should be a priority for New England in the coming months.<\/p>\n

One solution to consider is trading for Philadelphia Eagles wideout A.J. Brown. The 28-year-old star has voiced his frustration with the Eagles offense<\/a> on a few occasions, which has led to some trade speculation.<\/p>\n

ESPN published an article Thursday evaluating four potential trade destinations for Brown<\/a> and what an offer from those teams could look like.<\/p>\n

Here is Seth Walder’s mock trade proposal for the Patriots:<\/p>\n

Eagles get: 2026 first-round pick, 2026 third-round pick, 2026 sixth-round pick<\/p>\n

Patriots get: A.J. Brown, 2026 second-round pick<\/p>\n

A first-round pick plus two other picks is a steep price for any player, even one as talented as Brown.<\/p>\n

However, Brown has tallied 1,000-plus receiving yards in six of his seven pro seasons, including each of the last four. He has averaged eight touchdowns per season. He’s a physical wideout (6-foot-1, 226 pounds) and a downfield threat. He ranked No. 1 in ESPN’s Receiver Score<\/a> in 2024 and No. 6 in 2025.<\/p>\n

Brown would instantly improve the Patriots receiving corps in a major way. And he also knows Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel very well from their time together with the Tennessee Titans.<\/p>\n

Brown signed a three-year, $96 million extension with the Eagles in April of 2024 despite having multiple years left on his current deal at the time. He is under contract through 2029 with a salary cap hit of $23.4 million in the 2026 season, per Spotrac<\/a>, so he’d be an expensive addition.<\/p>\n

The list of free agent wide receivers isn’t great, though. The best fit for the Patriots is probably Alec Pierce<\/a>. He’s a very good wideout and a legit deep threat, but he doesn’t cause the same headaches for opposing defenses that Brown does.<\/p>\n

If the Patriots want to make a splash at wide receiver, a blockbuster trade for a true No. 1 makes a lot more sense than paying anyone on the free agent market $15-plus million per season. <\/p>\n

The Patriots have an elite young QB on a rookie contract. The time is now to be aggressive in surrounding him with top-tier weapons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New England Patriots offense scored at a historically low rate in the 2025 NFL playoffs and still…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":763168,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[7,838,1167,249,2326,2094,6,208,109],"class_list":{"0":"post-763167","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-mike-vrabel","10":"tag-new-england","11":"tag-new-england-patriots","12":"tag-newengland","13":"tag-newenglandpatriots","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-patriots","16":"tag-philadelphia-eagles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116099293301467425","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=763167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/763168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=763167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=763167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=763167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}