Per multiple reports, the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots had trade talks surrounding star wide receiver AJ Brown this offseason.
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Per Mike Garofolo of the NFL Network, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman attempted to make a “split deal” for Brown where the move would be finalized after June 1, helping Philadelphia with its precarious cap situation regarding the receiver.
“The other thing that I’ve come to understand is Howie Roseman, and this shouldn’t really come as a surprise, was trying to be creative about these negotiations with teams and say, ‘Well, could we do sort of a split deal, like do half the deal now’ and then, what Ian (Rapoport) was talking about, ‘finish the rest of the deal after June 1,'” Garafolo said.
“This way it’s not as bad against the team salary cap.”
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No team took the bait, and the Patriots bought some leverage for future negotiations with the Eagles when they agreed to sign receiver Romeo Doubs on a four-year deal worth $70 million.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter gave an update on the Eagles and Brown. Philadelphia would prefer not to trade the receiver, and have no plans to do so unless they receive a “fair price” in return.
"They would rather not move him, even though he would like to be moved,” Schefter said, via John Clark of NBC Sports. “And they are not going to move him until they get what they feel is a fair price."
With the start of the league’s new year on Wednesday, the Eagles did not make a trade of Brown before the deadline of the start of free agency. At this time, most NFL team have already figured out their budgets for the upcoming season, and it’s unlikely a trade will occur soon.
With that being said, there will likely be more smoke and rumors surrounding the trade in April when the draft comes more into focus.
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