Philadelphia Eagles WR AJ Brown Gives Shocking Response To Recent Rumors amid contract issues
The Philadelphia Eagles clearly had a culture change in their locker room a little more than halfway through the season that caused a divide amongst the team and was ultimately the reason they were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round.
The Eagles have already made significant moves on both sides of the ball, hiring Kellen Moore as their offensive coordinator and VIc Fangio as their defensive coordinator.
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Certainly it’s believable that players weren’t meshing with the vision from the last two coordinators and that could have caused the strife, but it’s gotten to the point were there are legitimate trade rumors surrounding AJ Brown, who is arguably one of the top wide receivers in the NFL .
In his two seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, Brown has been named to the Pro Bowl twice, finishing with 88 receptions for 1,496 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2022, and 106 catches for 1,456 yards and seven touchdowns this season.
With Brown and DeVonta Smith leading the way as the team’s top two wideouts, the Eagles reached the Super Bowl last season, where they fell to the Kansas City Chiefs.
AJ Brown was just as productive this season, but the Eagles lost five of their final six regular-season games, finished second in the NFC East and lost their first playoff game.
There was some question whether head coach Nick Sirianni would keep his job after the collapse, and while he was retained, That’s when the Eagles fired offensive coordinator Brian Johnson and also made a change at defensive coordinator, hiring Vic Fangio.
Both Smith and Brown joined the “Up and Adams” podcast on Wednesday — and while the Eagles wideout duo didn’t say much — the narrative may be more about what they didn’t say.
Philadelphia Eagles WR AJ Brown Gives Shocking Response To Trade Rumors
Adams directly asked the Eagles star wideout about the trade rumors — and he never dismissed them completely and said he’d absolutely be back in Philly for 2024 — but instead gave short, ambiguous responses.
Brown noted that he wasn’t sure where the trade talk came from and remarked, “Maybe they know something I don’t.”
The trade scuttlebutt seemed to start when Brown scrubbed his Instagram ahead of the Eagles’ NFC Wild Card Round playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brown did not play in the game due to a knee injury, and the Eagles fell 32-9.
When asked if Brown’s actions on Instagram indicated that he was unhappy with his situation with the Philadelphia Eagles, Brown said: “That had nothing to do with football. That’s me just trying to grow as a person. Just trying to block out any negativity that I can.”
AJ Brown Brown noted that he’s “been through this before” in reference to trade rumors and added, “If something happens, I’ll be waiting by the phone.”
The Tennessee Titans originally selected Brown in the second round of the 2019 NFL draft, but rather than signing him to a new contract, they traded him to the Eagles in 2022.
Since Brown signed a four-year, $100 million contract extension with the Eagles in 2022, a trade seems unlikely regardless of his happiness factor.
Per Spotrac, the Philadelphia Eagles would incur $41 million in dead cap for 2024 if they trade him before June 1, and if they trade him after June 1, they would take on $10.5 million in dead cap for 2024 and $30.8 million in dead cap for 2025.
As of now, unless they get some massive return that makes sense, it doesn’t seem likely the Eagles will attempt to move AJ Brown.
