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A.J. Brown asked for a trade numerous times this past season (as early as after the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Los Angeles Rams in Week 3), multiple sources confirmed to Bleeding Green Nation. Brown is coming off his worst season as a pro since 2021, when he caught a career-lows with 63 passes for 869 yards and five touchdowns. This season, he caught 78 passes for 1,003 yards, his lowest output since 2021.
When asked about the possibility of trading Brown this offseason on Thursday at the Eagles’ year-end press conference, Eagles’ general manager Howie Roseman said, “It is hard to find great players in the NFL, and A.J. is a great player. I think from my perspective, that’s what we’re going out and looking for when we go out here in free agency, in the draft, just trying to find great players who love football, and he’s that guy.”
Brown may not be that guy any longer. He has been disgruntled all season. He does not have the speed to create separation from a defender anymore, and despite his complaining about getting the ball, he suffered from a spate of drops this season that were highly uncharacteristic of him. A bold case in point came in the Eagles’ 23-19 Wild Card round playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
Brown dropped a pass down the middle on a third-and-five at the Eagles’ 40 with 2:21 left to play. The ball went right through his hands. Brown was targeted seven times in the game, catching three passes for mere 25 yards—and he looked old, and creaky doing it.
Brown and Jalen Hurts may be in a “good, great place” right now, they may both agree Hurts may not be the quarterback for him at this stage of his career. When asked in November about the possibility of Brown being traded, Roseman said, “I think that when you’re trying to be a great team, it’s hard to trade great players, and A.J. Brown is a great player. He wears a ‘C’ for a reason. He’s an important part of this team, of this organization. He cares about winning, he cares about his teammates, and I think when you’re a team like ours that is looking forward to an opportunity to compete for a championship, you just don’t get rid of guys like that.”
Of course, Roseman said that.
He also said that about Carson Wentz in January 2021.
“When you have players like that, they’re like fingers on your hands,” Roseman said. “You can’t even imagine that they’re not a part of you, that they’re not here. That’s how we feel about Carson.”
Roseman traded Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts on March 17, 2021.