A.J. Brown and Dallas Goedert
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The Eagles aren't necessarily going to trade A.J. Brown just because they extended Dallas Goedert
The Philadelphia Eagles have been involved in quite a few rumors to begin the offseason, the majority of which have involved star wide receiver A.J. Brown. After a drama-filled 2025 campaign, the Eagles have reportedly been listening to trade offers for Brown, and over the past couple of days, it seemed increasingly likely that he would get dealt.
Instead, Brown remains with Philadelphia for the time being. Over the weekend, it seemed like Brown’s future with the Eagles may be tied to whether or not the front office signed tight end Dallas Goedert to a contract extension. On Sunday, Philly agreed to a new deal with Goedert, leading to another spike in trade rumors involving Brown. And yet, it doesn’t necessarily sound like he’s guaranteed to be traded in the wake of this move.
Why Eagles May Wait to Trade A.J. Brown
Ian Rapoport
From @GMFB: A future AJ Brown trade remains a possibility, but by Dallas Goeddert returning to the #Eagles, it removed any time element. Brown’s trade scenarios may be revisited in June.
There are several reasons why the Eagles are open to trading Brown. While he remained quite productive for the team in 2025 (78 REC, 1,003 YDS, 7 TD), he wasn’t shy in voicing his displeasure with his role on offense throughout the year. That led to quite a bit of internal tension, and while this isn’t the first time Brown has been vocal about not receiving enough targets, it now feels like there’s a real shot he gets traded this offseason.
From a salary cap perspective, Philadelphia could also clear some money by moving on from Brown. And with things getting tight as of late, general manager Howie Roseman found himself in a tough spot. With a decision needing to be made on Goedert’s deal, it began to feel like the team would only be able to keep one of him or Brown in town.
When the team agreed to a revised one-year, $7 million deal with Goedert, some folks believed that meant Brown’s time with the team was up. However, that may not be the case, at least for the time being, because as NFL insider Ian Rapoport of NFL Network noted, the Eagles would actually benefit greatly from holding onto Brown past the 2026 NFL Draft.
“The reason why the cap number was such a big thing, if the Eagles traded A.J. Brown now, it would be $40 million gets accelerated into their cap in dead money,” Rapoport explained on “Good Morning Football.” “If they do it after June 1, it’s just $20 million. That’s $20 million less, that’s a lot of money, so … if they are going to trade A.J. Brown … trading him after June 1 makes sense.”
Will the Eagles Trade A.J. Brown?
A.J. Brown, Los Angeles Rams
GettyA.J. Brown #11 of the Philadelphia Eagles participates in warm-ups before a game against the Detroit Lions.
Since Brown hasn’t gotten traded to this point, and Goedert now has a new contract, it seems like the Eagles are in wait-and-see mode. They could still trade Brown, but it doesn’t really make any sense to do so until June 1 now. There aren’t many teams left in the running for Brown’s services, but his top potential landing spot, the New England Patriots, still appears to be interested in acquiring him.
The problem with holding onto Brown is that Philadelphia’s front office has pretty openly explored trading him this offseason, which makes welcoming him back into the fold a bit of an awkward proposition. If there was already some drama surrounding Brown, how would he handle returning to a team that was shopping him for months? It may not happen for a couple of months, but a Brown trade may very well be inevitable.