Unlike the fanfare over the Myles Garrett trade, A.J. Brown’s move to the New England Patriots is lacking quite a bit of fanfare. Everyone knew this would transpire once the Philadelphia Eagles turned over the calendar to mark June 1. Now that Brown has signed along the dotted line, Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata can breathe a sigh of relief.

“I think this is more of a — it sounds terrible — but like, thank God it’s over,” Mailata said on Brown’s trade, as per Zach Berman on X. “It was a slow pain of just, is he in, is he out? We didn’t really know, and that really wasn’t our focus as a team, especially on offense. But we got to keep these wheels moving. We got new guys coming in. We got rookies coming in again. We got to build that culture every year.

“I think most of us who have been here the last six weeks, we have moved on, just from, we have enough to worry about. Getting over last year, and then coming in here and learning a new scheme and new concepts, like we had to press on. So that’s what we were doing.”

Well, the trade was coming one way or the other. It was only put off for financial reasons.

Brown had an overall dead salary cap of $43.45 million. This is why Howie Roseman waited until June 1, as it helped the Eagles save about $7 million in cap space this season. The GM kept saying that Brown was a “forever Eagle,” but his impending departure was clear as day. 

A.J. Brown’s relationship with the Eagles soured over time. Ever since the team hired Kevin Patullo to run the offense, Brown began to see less time on the field. Patullo deployed a run-heavy offense, which put Brown in the backseat. In 2024, he was only getting 5.1 catches on average, down from 6.2 in 2023. In 2025, Brown recorded 1,003 yards, his lowest total after crossing the 1,000-yard mark.

Brown’s presence on the team was also causing a lot of drama. After the Eagles won their last Super Bowl, the WR felt like he hadn’t earned it.

“I’ve never been a champion at the highest level before, but I thought my hard work would be justified by winning it all,” Brown wrote on social media. “It wasn’t. My thrill for this game comes when I dominate.”

With Brown not getting to be on the field, he kicked up a storm when he was seen reading a book while on the bench, while the Eagles were playing the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs. In another instance, he told viewers in a Twitch stream that it was better they dropped him from Madden. Brown was giving us hints, but never publicly acknowledged that there was a rift between him and the team.

The buzz around his exit reached a peak when the Eagles drafted Makai Lemon this year. With the rookie on the roster, there was no reason for the Eagles to hold on to Brown. In the OTAs last week, Jalen Hurts practically confirmed that the deal was done, as he was talking about the WR in the past tense.

“We’re focused on learning the offense,” Hurts said. “It really doesn’t change, in terms of our approach to change or improve… Nothing can replace all the greatness that we achieved together.” 

So, when June 1 came along, it was a win-win-win for everyone involved. The Eagles can focus on their seasons, Brown can look forward to a great opportunity, and the Patriot get a veteran WR with some gas still left in the tank.

A.J. Brown is turning the script in Foxborough

 The now-Patriots WR acknowledged that he was it was going to take some time to adapt to this transition. 

“Still processing it,” Brown told ESPN’s Maria Taylor. “I honestly took this time this week to really grieve and process my emotions around it. I’m going to miss this place. I’m going to miss teammates, miss the environment. That’s what I did. That’s what I’ve been focused on all week.” 

With Stefon Diggs no longer with the Patriots, Brown appears to be a perfect fit. He is expected to be Drake Maye’s top target, which should give him the reps he wanted in Philadelphia.

Brown seems to have completely turned the page on his past, having ditched the No. 11 jersey he wore in Philadelphia to wear No. 1 in New England. Perhaps the change is a sign that Brown has found his tribe and is ready to put in the work that he knows he is capable of.