Philly Front Office

Throughout all of 2025 and the 2026 offseason I have been steadfast in my belief that AJ Brown is not leaving the Eagles for two reasons: It doesn’t make financial sense and it’s just better to have AJ Brown on the team. Howie Roseman knows this. However, he is as susceptible as anyone to a godfather offer, or an offer so good he can’t refuse. Well, with the newest rumor that there is a handshake agreement between the Eagles and Patriots for a post-June 1 trade, I figure I would address all the scenarios.

Eagles Salary Cap Situation Post Free Agency

He Stays

Despite being the most logical and likely card pull in the deck, this one seems to be the least expected by fans and media. Keeping AJ Brown is a good idea, because he is AJ Brown. The reason everyone is losing their minds over this is because he is still VERY good, one of the best WRs in the game. Brown signed a 3/$96m extension with the Eagles which, ironically, hasn’t even started yet (this is a whole thing with the false advertising of NFL contracts (like Jordan Davis)). His 2026 compensation is fully guaranteed and his 2026 $27.45m option bonus has either already triggered or will by June 1.

If he stays, here are his upcoming Salary Cap hits:

• 2026 – $23.4m
• 2027 – $22.7m
• 2028 – $27.6m
• 2029 – $29.3m
• 2030 – $$53.5m (dead cap)

These numbers are not something that can be restructured, the Eagles don’t work like that. Consider them pre-restructured.

Trade Before June 1

For the last 6 weeks we have been dealing with nothing but rumor after rumor concerning AJ Brown trades. It never seemed like a logical move because of his cap hit. A trade before June 1 looks like this:

• 2026 – $43.4m (dead cap)
• 2027 – $0

His $23.4m active cap would be replaced by $43.4m in dead cap immediately. The Eagles currently have around $30m in cap space with the $23.4m included. A trade now, BEFORE the 2026 NFL Draft would drop a $20m nuke into our stockpile of cap space. The only benefit being that any picks received could be for the 2026 draft as opposed to the 2027 Draft. Still, that benefit seemed farfetched as a good enough carrot.

Eagles Dominoes

Trade Post June 1

If any AJ Brown trade were to happen, this was always the path to do it. Why? Because the cap hit gets spread over two years instead of packed into one. Take a look:

• 2026 – $16.3m (dead cap)
• 2027 – $27.1m (dead cap)
• 2028 – $0

Add them up and that is the same $43.4m in dead cap that would have hit 2026, but now in much more manageable chunks. In fact, it is so manageable that the Eagles would save $7m in cap space in 2026. That $30m in space goes to $37m in space. Even 2027 isn’t that bad considering it is only $4.3m more than if he stayed.

There are two obvious downsides though to this trade. 1. You are accounting for an AJ Brown size salary in 2027 but with no AJ Brown. 2. You can’t get 2026 draft assets in any trade. Right?

Handshake Agreement?

Similar to the NBA, in the NFL you can’t circumvent the salary cap by giving a player extra payments. However, transactions are delayed circumventing the cap all the time. Every time someone announces their retirement, the paperwork doesn’t go through until after June 1 for the same reasons as above. That’s essentially what would be happening here if the Eagles and Patriots have agreed to make a trade in the future but unofficially. There are signs and there are risks.

The easiest way to find out if a trade has unofficially gone down is if and where these teams draft a WR. If the Eagles use the #23 pick on a WR, that is a pretty goddamn good indication that Brown is out the door by June 1. Of course, there is also the possibility that the Patriots draft a WR early as well. While that is not in itself a tell, there is the possibility that a rookie can be traded AFTER they sign their rookie contract. If there is an agreement in place, it is possible that the Patriots are essentially drafting for the Eagles at #31, we just won’t know it.

Eagles Offseason Part 5: The Draft

There are all kinds of problems with this because a handshake agreement is not enforceable. While this might mean a deal in the real world, the NFL is not the real world. They have a collective bargaining agreement which would send this kind of dispute to arbitration where it would pretty easily be declared null. Here are some issues…

• What happens if Brown gets hurt, arrested, or just decides he doesn’t want to play anymore? Same with one of the draft picks? That is a pretty good reason to back out. After all, you don’t want damaged good if you don’t have to.
• What if the Eagles don’t get the picks they want ahead of time and want to back out? That would be a pretty easy do-over.
• What if something happens that makes the compensation to be received no longer enough? Let’s say a lesser receiver gets traded for more than they agreed on
• What if one party simply changes their mind on the compensation or the deal as a whole?

That is a lot of variables even if the two owners are chummy toward one another. While the idea of a handshake agreement sounds completely plausible and even likely to fans, these multi-billion-dollar franchises might feel differently.

While we don’t know very much other than a lot of guessing by Adam Schefter and every other outlet putting a megaphone up to Dianna Russini, the NFL Draft is the day we will actually get some clarity on the situation. Try to ignore everything you hear until then.

Contracts: Spotrac