Philly Front Office

There is an absurd rumor going around that the Eagles are looking to trade AJ Brown during the draft. It is absolutely not happening, I cannot stress this enough. Not only is AJ Brown a key member of the team, but his contract makes it impossible. So even if you think it kinda makes sense to trade him for a top-5 draft pick in your delusional WIP brain, it will not happen. Here’s why.

Last off season, AJ Brown signed a 3-year extension with the Eagles worth $96m. The contract comes with a $20m signing bonus and the usual option bonuses designed to keep the cap hit down. Almost the whole contract is guaranteed.

If the Eagles were to trade him during the draft, an absurd $60m cap hit will be incurred immediately. All of his previous option bonuses and his signing bonus would go right to the top of the cap. The Eagles would not be cap compliant and the trade would not be approved by the league. Simply, this means it can’t happen.

Ok, but there has to be another way, right? Sure, it’s the NFL. There are always ways to make a deal technically work. If the Eagles agreed to trade him at the draft, but didn’t complete the transaction until after June 1, then the cap hit would be spread out. His cap hit this season would actually go down slightly (by like $1m) but it would still account for $16m in dead money. Next year though, his cap hit would be $43m! That money has to be accounted for by the team at some point. Crazy, but again technically doable, except…

The Eagles are trying to save money on the cap in order to extend their young players starting with Cam Jurgens this season, then Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith next year. Increasing cap obligations AND getting nothing from it next year is not the way the Eagles will do business. They will not decrease the talent on the team AND spend money to do so, especially when it DOESN’T SAVE THEM ANY MONEY. A top 5 pick is nice, but doesn’t make sense with the Eagles plan.

Ok, what about next year? Yes, trading him NEXT draft is possible but I won’t speculate on whether they would even want to do that. Trading him after June 1, 2026 would mean only a slight increase in cap obligations the following year, from like $23m to $27m. That’s much more palatable than $43m, but again is for the following year’s draft.

Who is leaking these rumors anyway? It’s certainly not the Eagles. They do not talk unless they want people to know someone is on the block like Dallas Goedert. Is it another team? If the Eagles were talking to you about AJ Brown, would you want other teams to know about it and get involved? Is it AJ Brown? He just signed his extension and just won the Super Bowl with an elite young team poised for more. He is not angling for a change of scenery or a new contract. What he posted on social media with the Patriots was a joke. Giving oxygen to this is pure tabloid/radio fodder.

Stop the clickbait insanity of “AJ Brown Trade Rumors.” The people peddling that crap are either ignorant of the cap implications or know full well what they are saying and still spout it because they think you are the dumb one. Don’t be dumb.