May 20, 2026
Geoff Burke/Imagn Images
A.J. Brown is getting traded – but it might not be right around the June 1 deadline.
By now, the NFL news cycle is just waiting for June 1, the deadline for when players under contract can be released without teams taking the full cap hit going into the 2026 season.
Every June 1, and within a few days after, it's typical to see high-priced NFL players released or traded by teams that wanted to move on earlier but also wanted to avoid taking a massive cap hit for the coming season.
The biggest post-June 1 move expected this year is the Eagles trading A.J. Brown, with multiple reports for awhile connecting Brown to the Patriots and a reunion with Mike Vrabel, who coached Brown in Tennessee before he was dealt to the Eagles.
Other teams, including the Rams, have reportedly expressed some interest in Brown, which leads to the obvious question – does Howie Roseman need to deal Brown on June 1 or should he take his time and see if another team is willing to enter the sweepstakes and outbid New England?
NFL Insider James Palmer, who once worked for NFL Media but is now employed by Bleacher Report and The Athletic, appeared on a recent "Up and Adams" show with host Kay Adams and said Roseman won't feel any pressure to deal Brown immediately after June 1 without first doing more diligence on the trade market with other teams.
Here's the entire quote, starting around the 7:40 mark:
"Here's the deal. I'll say this, nothing can be put in place. This isn't like a release, where you can designate a guy post June 1. With trades it has to happen, it has to become official, after June 1. Anything right now is just a wink and a nod in terms of an agreement. We all know Howie Roseman. We all know how he works. He can obviously be, 'Yeah, I think we should get the negotiations up and going' and they had negotiations. They haven't really had any, it's my understanding, like recently, but there's been some offers, there's been some talk with the Pats for sure. But if you think Howie Roseman for a second is not going to be calling every other team, and I mean not just taking calls but making calls to other teams on A.J. Brown, I mean you're a fool. This is the way Howie works. He's going to try to get other teams involved. He's going to try to see what the best options he can get for himself are."
Palmer's point is valid; there's no reason to send Brown to the Patriots at the deadline without first seeing if better options are available.
It's very possible that teams uninterested in trading for Brown earlier this offseason could be now, after the best players in free agency have already signed and with the NFL Draft in the rear-view mirror.
After the draft, team personnel decisionmakers often re-evaluate their roster to gauge its strengths and weaknesses. There are plenty of playoff contenders who could use help at receiver.
The Rams, as we mentioned, have also been linked to the Eagles in Brown trade discussions. The Rams bypassed USC wideout Makai Lemon with the 13th overall pick to take Alabama QB Ty Simpson and didn't pick a receiver until Round 6, 197th overall. Lemon, ironically, went to the Eagles at 20th overall.
NFL Media's Mike Garafolo, appearing recently as a guest on "The Rich Eisen Show" (hosted by Tom Pelissero), suggested the Rams could re-engage discussions with the Eagles on a Brown trade after getting "really close" on a deal at some point this offseason.
But the longer the sweepstakes goes on, so does the saga and all the questions that will be asked of Brown's teammates if he's still on the the team. The Eagles have OTAs on June 1-2 and June 4. If Brown remains on the roster, potentially distracting questions about the receiver's presence – or lack of – at camp will arise, and even more if this situation drags into training camp which starts in late July.
Not helping the Eagles in the leverage game is a pretty decent crop of veteran receivers still on the market who are good enough to help teams, a list that includes Stefon Diggs, Keenan Allen, Deebo Samuel, Tyreek Hill (if healthy) and DeAndre Hopkins.
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