Eagles receiver A.J. Brown reacts on the sidelines.
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A.J. Brown of the Philadelphia Eagles is still in play for a trade to the Patriots.
The New England Patriots remain in the running to acquire star wide receiver A.J. Brown, according to an update Friday from longtime NFL insider Dianna Russini of The Athletic. The Patriots remain in the running to trade for Brown despite earlier reports suggesting New England was out of the race.
Earlier on Friday, a radio commentator in Philadelphia, where Brown has played for the Eagles since 2023, went on air to state that the Patriots had made a significant offer for Brown, but Eagles general manager Howie Roseman rejected it.
The Patriots’ offer was reported by radio host Anthony Gargano to be a first-round draft pick, plus a third-rounder for Brown, a three-time Pro Bowl selection who has seasons with more than 1,000 receiving yards in six of his seven years. That blockbuster offer apparently wasn’t enough.
But did the offer ever even happen? According to Russini’s report, the answer is no.
“While teams have been internally discussing potential trade packages for A.J. Brown, no team has made an official offer to the Eagles, per multiple sources,” the veteran NFL reporter wrote in a social media post Friday morning.
Russini did not specifically indicate whether the Patriots were preparing an offer for Brown, but if no offer has been made by any team, New England is clearly still in the running to make a trade with the Eagles.
Will the Patriots Make an Offer for A.J. Brown?
Trade speculation linking the Patriots to Brown has been a popular subject for several months, including during the NFL season completed last month with the Patriots’ surprising appearance in the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Seattle Seahawks.
But the talk surrounding a potential Brown-to-New England trade heated up when the Patriots on Thursday, according to multiple reports, informed wide receiver Stefon Diggs that he would be released as soon as the NFL begins its new business year. Diggs spent just one season with the Patriots but made a significant impact, catching 85 passes for 1,013 yards — the first time a Patriots receiver cracked the 1,000-yard barrier since Julian Edelman in 2019.
Diggs, however, was primarily a slot receiver, who could be relied upon by sophomore quarterback Drake Maye to haul in quick, short passes over the middle of the field. He was not a significant threat to go deep, and with Maye near the top of the NFL in deep pass attempts — and leading the NFL in Passing EPX, a metric that measures explosive-play effectiveness — with a rating of 129.1, a deep-threat receiver is exactly what the Patriots need, and what Brown would provide.
Brown ranked 19th among NFL wide receivers with a Receiving EPX of 110.2.
The Patriots are expected to make an offer for Brown, but they are also reportedly in the mix for other deep-threat receivers, primarily Alec Pierce, a free agent who spent his first four years with the Indianapolis Colts.
Why Would Patriots Prefer Alec Pierce?
As a free agent, Pierce can be acquired without trading away draft picks, which Patriots coach Mike Vrabel appears to value highly. The 25-year-old second-rounder out of Cincinnati, more importantly, fits the profile for pairing with Maye.
“Just how big of a deep threat has Pierce become? Arguably the biggest,” wrote ESPN.com’s Stephen Holder on Friday. “He has led the NFL in yards per catch the past two seasons, with a league-high 21.3 yards per reception in 2025. His 2024 season, when he averaged 22.3 yards per reception, is the highest single-season mark in that category in the past 10 seasons.”
Russini also reported Friday that the Eagles, as well as teams hoping to trade for Brown, “want the situation resolved in the next couple of days so they can move on to the rest of their offseason planning.”
The NFL free agency period opens Wednesday, March 11, meaning that the A.J. Brown situation will likely be resolved within the next several days, at least as far as the Patriots’ involvement goes.