Philadelphia's blockbuster trade sends a superstar distraction to New England, stripping Jalen Hurts of his top target and narrowing the talent gap for a surging Dallas roster.
FRISCO - The Philadelphia Eagles are getting rid of a temperamental locker-room headache in by trading star wide receiver A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots for a first-round draft pick in 2028 and a 2027 fifth-round pick.
But the blockbuster Monday trade also weakens the roster of the best team in the NFC East.
And the Dallas Cowboys should be celebrating that.
This trade, which has become one of the NFL's worst-kept secrets in recent months, on paper gives the Patriots and coach Mike Vrabel - who worked with Brown in Tennessee - an improved chance of a return trip to the Super Bowl.
Brown, who turns 29 this month, can give Patriots quarterback Drake Maye a No. 1 target of the sort he's never had before.
But as the Eagles learned - even in winning a Super Bowl with his help - Brown is a living, breathing distraction. He is a classic receiver diva who decided he didn't like QB Jalen Hurts - maybe because of a "love triangle'' that we've alluded to before in this space - and the team's chemistry was negatively impacted by his mercurial behavior.
And as a result? Maybe the talent gap between the Dallas roster and the Eagles roster has lessened.
Brown has star quality, undeniably. Since entering the NFL as a Titans second-round pick in 2019, Brown is fourth in the NFL in both receiving yards (8,029) and touchdown catches (56). He is a consistent 1,000-yard threat.
The Eagles - in essentially believing in the idea that "addition is subtraction'' (the picks notwithstanding) - might now have a happier locker room.
But ...
The three-time Pro Bowler leaving now means that the Eagles' aerial attack will largely be up to Hurts throwing to DaVonta Smith, a good-but-not-great performer who has never made a Pro Bowl.
Meanwhile, for the suck-ups who are congratulating Philly GM Howie Roseman for "winning the trade''? Tap the brakes, Homer; The Dolphins just got a first-, a third- and a fourth-rounder from Denver for their WR2, Jaylen Waddle.
And that adds up to good news worth celebrating for a Cowboys team trying to climb back up to the Eagles' level.
