Ex-Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown has finally found his true calling, following a blockbuster trade deal sending him to the New England Patriots in exchange for a 2028 first-round draft pick and a 2027 fifth-round selection. Even though the move just materialized now, Brown has always been loyal to the Patriots ever since anyone can remember. The Super Bowl LIX champion also has a Patriots rug at his home, which has been there for a while.

“Some things never change. This is my team,” Brown said when talking about the Patriots. “This is my team since I was a kid, so it didn’t matter. I was doing what I was supposed to be doing as an Eagle, but this is it.”

The 28-year-old wide receiver has been a Patriots fan ever since he was a kid, and he hasn’t shied away from reflecting that time-to-time. A couple of years ago, Brown shocked everyone when he changed his social media profile picture to Tom Brady during the 2024 offseason. At the time, Brown was with the Eagles, and his move made everyone wonder whether he was going to sign with the Patriots.

At that time, Brown downplayed those rumors and clarified that he had changed his profile picture to Brady after being motivated by Brady’s career. He had just watched The Dynasty on Apple TV+, leading him to reflect on his admiration for the former Patriots quarterback.

“TB12 is my favorite player. I watch(ed) the dynasty and it brought back some memories from my childhood,” Brown clarified at that time. “Go look up what he did in 2015 when he was doubted/ disrespected. Yeah I see the disrespect. Motivated … yes. That’s it. I Did not think changing my pfp (profile picture) to the greatest QB ever would cause controversy.”

But even after Brown’s clarification, the rumors persisted. Albert Breer reported that the Patriots had reached out to the Eagles to inquire about the receiver’s availability. But Philadelphia made it clear that Brown is not available, and on April 25, 2024, the Eagles signed him on a three-year, $96 million contract extension.

The truth is that Brown was always a Tom Brady fan growing up. Back when he received a signed jersey from Brady, his reaction was priceless. The WR couldn’t believe that the 7x Super Bowl champion had sent him such a precious gift, and took a deep breath before opening the package.

“You officially reached big bruh status. We locked in twin,” and now, years later, A.J Brown is finally locked in with his dream team.

This year, when Brown became available via trade, the Patriots didn’t miss the opportunity. Right after the trade became official, Brown shared a couple of his childhood pictures in the Patriots’ No. 12 jersey, a nod to Tom Brady. The deal was finalized after months of frustration Brown had with the Eagles, especially during the 2025 season.

Back in November 2024, Brown said on a live stream that he had “been struggling” and that outside of his family, “everything is a s–t show.” Soon after, he interacted with the reporters and expressed his frustration publicly, noting:

“If you have eyes, you can see that. I’m literally trying to laugh through this s–t. This s–t is tough. But I’m trying to make fun of the situation and to try to get through it. So, you know, it is what it is, man.”

This is exactly why, once the season was over, Brown was linked as a top trade candidate, with the Patriots being the top contender. And after months of speculation, the Patriots sent a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick to trade for A.J. Brown. Soon after officially becoming a Patriot, Brown addressed his time with the Eagles, especially his rocky relationship with his former quarterback, Jalen Hurts.

A.J. Brown opened up on his relationship with Jalen Hurts

For years, A.J. Brown and Jalen Hurts’ relationship has been described as brotherhood, with Hurts being the godfather of the receiver’s daughter. But for the past couple of seasons, a rift between the receiver and the quarterback has been reported, and now that Brown is no longer with the Eagles, he was asked about his relationship with Hurts during a conversation with Maria Taylor.

“Not as close as we once were,” Brown said when asked about his relationship with Hurts. “I believe that’s fine. It’s like there’s no bad blood. There’s actually still a lot of love. I love him, I want him to succeed, and accomplish all the things that he wants to accomplish. I didn’t truly understand why our friendship became the center of everybody’s attention when it came to football. Because looking back at it, we haven’t been as close as we were a couple of years now. But that don’t stop anything. We still competed, we still push each other, we still led the team. So, it just got strange.

“People just got so fixated on the relationship and wanted to talk about maybe from the history of this place. But that wasn’t what this was. I am going to say it to you, I’m going to say it on camera, I had nothing but love from him…Nothing happened. Nothing happened. People just grow apart. Nothing happened between me or our families, wives, anything. Nothing like that ever happened. But life happens. You just look up sometimes, and you find yourself driven away. And that’s fine, and I think both parties are stuck together.”

Brown and Hurts spent the past four seasons as the Eagles’ top WR-QB duo. Across four seasons, Brown recorded 5,034 receiving yards and 32 touchdowns with Hurts running the offense. But once Brown’s role on the Eagles’ offense was diminished, reports claimed that the relationship between the receiver and the quarterback had gone rocky.

Since then, Hurts hasn’t spoken much on the topic, only admitting that “nothing’s changed” about his relationship with Brown since the end of the 2025 season. Now, Brown is no longer with the Eagles. He’s set to lead the Patriots’ wide receiver unit in the 2026 season.