Many teams walked away from an A.J. Brown trade with the Eagles for this one reason.
Once again, we're still here waiting to see if A.J. Brown is headed to Foxborough to play for the New England Patriots in 2026. So until the news breaks on this matter, there's still time to discuss a lot of "what ifs."
Patriots reporter Tom E. Curran did just that this week.
As Mike Vrabel's squad still seems like the perfect landing spot for Brown if the Eagles were to move him out of Philly, Curran brings up an angle on all of this that at times has seemed like a blimp on the radar.
On his Patriots Talk Podcast this week, Curran brought up Brown's reported knee injuries that may or may not make him a liability for whoever he plays for next year.
"One thing we haven't discussed yet as it pertains to A.J. Brown is his knee, the condition of it," Curran said on a new Patriots Talk Podcast. "The Rams—reportedly and behind closed doors, the people I've talked to—they passed on him because of the condition of his knee."
Curran went on to elaborate on the issue and questioned whether the high-caliber picks the Eagles are looking for are even worth trading for Brown.
"I think it's something that looms over this entire A.J. Brown conversation. You already have one reputable team that's pushed away from the table on A.J. Brown. Everyone's yearning for that player to join the Patriots. You can't say it's a zero (percent) chance that the Patriots might look at A.J. Brown's knee when they get him in front of their doctors and say, 'A first (-round pick) and a second (-round pick)? I don't know if we want to do that.'"
The Eagles are reportedly seeking a first and second-round pick for Brown. This could maybe turn a lot of other teams off based on the news around the wide receiver's knee.
Brown has played with knee problems in the past. Those problems led to him being moved out of Tennessee to Philadelphia back in 2022. Brown also opened up last preseason about needing his knee drained of fluid twice a week.
There is the idea that Brown's value is depreciating more and more as an Eagle, though. With his knee and his rumored unhappiness there, one would think that the Eagles should just get the deal done with. This was a point Eddie Marotta brought up on the Patriots Roundtable Podcast a few weeks back.
In the end, it comes down to cap hits for the Eagles. If the team wants to trade him to New England or whomever, a move before June 1st gives them a hit of more than $40 million.
After June 1st, it drops below $20 million.
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