The New England Patriots have shown plenty of interest in trading for star receiver A.J. Brown of the Philadelphia Eagles, but those trade talks appear to be on pause.
Philadelphia has gotten plenty of interest, but the team reportedly won’t trade Brown until after June 1, when the Eagles get more cap savings. New England, meanwhile, is also fine waiting, but Patriots analyst Chad Graff of The Athletic believes that’s a gamble.
“If the Eagles trade Brown before June 1, they’d be stuck with more than $20 million in dead cap space,” Graff wrote. “If they deal Brown on June 1 or later, they’d save $7 million against the cap. So the Patriots’ gamble here seems to be that waiting until June 1 to re-engage with the Eagles on Brown will yield a more eager trade partner.
“If the Patriots can pull off a trade for Brown — on top of their free-agent moves and whatever happens in the draft — this would go down as a great offseason.”
New England signed Romeo Doubs to bolster the receiver position after releasing Stefon Diggs, but adding Brown would make the Patriots' offense one of the best in the NFL.
Yet, if the Patriots don’t make another addition to the receiver room in hopes of landing Brown and don’t, it could come back to hurt New England.
So, waiting for a potential trade for Brown is a gamble New England could be taking, according to Graff.
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