OK, so the Eagles uh traded AJ Brown, uh, to the Patriots.
This is what we all saw coming.
Uh, I think.
A couple things Jalen Hurts now is in a place where he’s probably got.
8 weeks before a major shit storm if he’s not playing well, right?
And I heard some Eagles fans say this yesterday.
It’s like, well, a lot of drops.
Like there was like an AJ Brown drops reel that played.
That guy caught, had like a 65% catch rate.
AJ Brown did.
But depending on what stats you use, like, The Eagles used to always throw those deep balls to him on like there were a lot of just like, OK, I’m gonna throw it away and it’s in AJ Brown’s direction kind of thing, and that skews your catch percentage.
There was at one point, I think I saw this stat in 2024, so it wasn’t 2025, but like, of the catchable balls that were thrown at him, he didn’t have any drops, like, like 10 weeks through the season.
That’s huge, um.
And now he starts over with a rookie rookie in Makay Lemon, new offensive coordinator, and I get all the defensive Jalen, but AJ Brown, I think, was a bigger.
Security blanket than we may ever know for for Jalen.
I mean, I will say like I think Howie did a good job of stocking the receiver room with answers and so like I think you can make the argument that Devonta Smith was their number one receiver at the end of last year.
Now we can argue over what the cause was, why AJ Brown slipped a little bit last year.
I think, you know, you get a pretty good split if you talk to NFL people about it.
Some believe he’s lost a step.
And then the knee is starting to affect him and that he’s lumbering now.
Um, there are a good amount of other people who think he was disinterested and that like, you know, everything with the, with the quarterback, with the coaching, like everything got to him last year.
What regardless, I, I do think you saw, An offense that became more reliant on Devonta Smith.
So I think Devonta Smith is ready to be the number one.
Bring in Donntavian Wicks, and I would not overlook that.
Like he is wildly talented now.
He never put it all together, but that Packers receiver room was so crowded, you know, it’s, it’s similar to the bet that the Patriots are making on Romeo Dobbs, the one that the Eagles are making on Dantavion Wicks, is that when he comes out of that crowd.
That he’ll wind up being a better player for it, because he’s gonna get more opportunity.
And then I think Makai Lemon, I mean, I, I would say, I, it’s just an incredibly ready.
Um, receiver for the pros, you know what I mean?
Like he’s just, you trade up for him in the first round.
So now you got 3 guys who I think are starting gonna be starting quality receivers.
You’ve got Hollywood Brown as a backstop, sort of an insurance policy there, Elijah Moore.
I mean, I, you put the whole thing together and it’s This is a pretty good group that they have, you know, and so, um, I I, I’m, I’m interested to see what it looks like cause you’re now taking the guy.
Now, as good as I think Devonta Smith is, I don’t think Devonta Smith has drawn coverage.
The way that AJ Brown has, and so now I think the difference is, all right, like the environment’s a little bit different than the one that everybody was operating in over the last 4 years because the one that was that everybody was operating in over the last 4 years is where with defenses when you break the huddle, the first thing they’re looking for is where number 11’s going , yeah, yeah.
And I mean it’s, it’s that it’s just the size, you know, and I think that that’s what, and, and the Eagles may be shifting something, right?
It seems like the profile of their ideal receiver has changed or they don’t care and they’re going to figure out a way to build around it, you know, there’s like an interesting point there too.
I, I hate to cut you off.
But some, I’ve had a couple of really smart football people say to me that, and, and this actually came up with Concepcion before the draft, say to me, That they believe the catch and run receiver is more valuable than any other type of receiver, no doubt, because of the way defenses are playing, because you have smaller defensive backs out there who aren’t as good tackling.
You have more like two high looks.
So you know what you have to do against two high looks is you have to get open underneath and you have to be able to exploit all the space that’s created by that.
And so I I think it’s sort of interesting that way too because that’s the type of receiver Makay Lemon is, you know, and I think that’s the type of receiver Devonta Smith can be.
And so like I think from that standpoint it’s sort of interesting too and that maybe there’s a little bit of a shift in that way as well.
So, like I remember the Rams Eagles game last year during the regular season and the Eagles were down and the Rams had their number and they were just walloping them.
And in the second half, it was, oh shit, AJ Brown is 9 times the size of Emmanuel Forbes.
Let’s just do that, you know what I mean?
And that’s something to be fair, like you and I might be 9 times the size of Emmanuel Forbes.
I am at this moment, uh, embarrassed to admit that I am heavier than Emmanuel Forbes, yes.
Um, gotta get, uh, gotta get back, I gotta get back out there, yeah, gotta, gotta start logging some miles on the old Peloton, but, um , yes, uh, but it wasn’t just Emmanuel Forbes, right?
It was most people, and there, there were, I think, you know, as much as there were the AJ Brown drop highlights yesterday, there were the ones where You, you look at a ball that’s mid-flight and you’re like, how the Christ is he gonna come down with this ball and he does like, you know, and it’s like multiple leverage shifts and the hands are back here and now they’re in front of the guy.
I mean, AJ Brown’s unbelievably gifted and when he’s, when he’s locked in, he could bail you out in a lot of different ways and you know that with Vrabel he’ll be locked in, you know I’m.
I’m interested to see this from a Josh McDaniel standpoint too, cause I think Josh has generally favored separators and the way they’ve taught their quarterback is.
Like, it’s that whole Brady thing, my favorite receiver is the open one, you know.
Um, and outside of Randy Moss, like, and Randy Moss was a separator too.
Like, I, I don’t know how many guys they’ve had there where it’s like, oh yeah, throw to him even if he’s covered, you know, and that’s sort of what AJ Brown is.
So I actually think to really create an analogy for like what you’re gonna be looking for as far as AJ Brown’s fit in Josh McDaniel’s offense, you have to go to the little history that Josh has outside of New England, and how he used Devonte Adams in Vegas, and how he used Brandon Marshall in Denver, all, all those years ago.
And Devonte Adams had 180 targets in 2022 in Vegas.
And so I think if you’re looking at like, OK, how is he gonna use AJ Brown again, people brought Moss up.
Moss was more of a Z.
Moss wasn’t an X.
Um, Brown is an Brown is a very pure ex receiver, and, and that’s what Devonte Adams was.
The other thing that’s interesting about this too is.
Where I think a lot of people view Brown as like sort of like this pure outside receiver.
McDaniels is gonna do stuff to get mismatches, move them inside, um, and teach him all the different positions, which I think makes him, you know, I think adds an interesting element to all of this too.
It was funny because I was thinking about this , uh, yesterday, um.
The NFL is hilarious because we have the NBA starting tomorrow.
Probably the greatest finals.
That we’ve had since like the LeBron versus Warriors finals in terms of anticipation, right?
And the NFL just decides to come up with another holiday, where they can absolutely obliterate the conversation and come up with something that dominates, you know, uh, every sports talk station for the next week, and it’s like, The Knicks are in the finals for Christ’s sakes, and we’re talking about the June 1st, you know , the way that we can splice up salary cap money by trading players after the June 1st deadline.
Um, and, and like, God, they just are unstoppable.
They are unstoppable.
And if you think that there’s a day on the calendar that they it’s like the everything comes up Milhouse thing right from The Simpsons, everything comes up NFL, you know, like, and, and here’s how I wanted to close it out.
Do you think that, um, Do you think that we will see the June 1st date?
As more, do you think that this was a unique set of circumstances for a couple of players, or does , or does June 1 now become a little bit of a soft trade deadline or I guess trade.
Starting line for teams.
So I don’t think it’s ideal.
Like, I, I think everyone would rather have the players in earlier.
If you’re trading away that much to get a guy, you want that guy to help you right now.
And like the best thing to get him in position to help you right now is to have him, you know, with the playbook in his hands in March at your offseason program in April, at OTAs in May.
And so there is like time lost with AJ Brown not in Foxborough.
Um, for the last 3 months, and Miles Garrett, not in Los Angeles for the last 3 months.
So, like, I don’t see this ever becoming like an, uh, uh, like an intentional thing.
I think it’s almost one of those accidental things.
Now, I do, I would say that this is the product of Different salary cap management and this belief, and the Eagles belief, I think, maybe more so than anybody else, but the Browns too, that We can spend what we want and figure it out later, you know, and this is one of those creative ways that you get out of, OK, well, and, and, and I think people make the mistake of thinking like the, the Eagles are saving salary cap money.
They’re not, they’re pushing it off.
Like it’s $27 million is gonna be charged in 2027 instead of 2026 now, so.
You know, I think this becomes a big date in the calendar.
With more teams building aggressively, so they’re in the spot where they can’t move stars until then.
Does that make sense?
You know what I mean?
Like, because I think if everybody had their druthers, like they would rather do this in March.
It gives more clarity to the team playing to trading the player away.
You can get a pick then in the current.
Year somebody who’s gonna help you right now.
I mean that’s the other thing.
Remember this like that’s a significant concession by by Howie and the Eagles, the, the making that a 28 pick because if they use that pick on a player you’re talking about having two full seasons where you have neither, neither AJ Brown nor that player on the roster, right?
So, um, would you rather have someone on your roster this year that’s helping you as a result of that trade?
Yes, and to do that you have to have.
Um, you have to have the deal done, um, before, before the draft.
So, I, I think it’s sort of one of those accidental things that the NFL falls ass backwards into, but do I think that, that Roger and, and his team are high fiving, that everybody was talking about the NFL on June 1st?
Sure.
You know, it’s not the first time it’s happened either.
I mean, it’s, it’s interesting like Mike Frabel himself was in this position 5 years ago trading for Julio Jones when Atlanta had a salary cap issue like this, you know.
So, um, you know, like it’s not.
It’s, it’s, it’s an accidental thing, but it does fill another dead area in the calendar that I’m sure the NFL is thrilled to fill.
I, but it fills it with fun stuff instead of like normally if the NFL, if you were to tell Roger Goodell like, hey.
NFL is going to be dominating the conversation on June 1st.
You’d be like, oh shit, who got caught speeding, you know, Memorial Day, Memorial Day went horribly.
Oh, no.
Yeah, um, yeah, I, I don’t, I don’t like the sound of that at all.
Um, but, uh, this time it, it turned out, it turned out great.
I did say that, you know, quickly, Howie Roseman came out and said that a pick is a pick.
First round pick is a first round pick.
There are two very distinct schools of thought on this, and actually I remember interviewing and talking to the people, Richard Thaler and Cade Massey, who they, those are the guys who put together that seminal paper, that economics paper on why you should trade for more draft picks, right?
Um.
And then they presented it to Dan Snyder of the Commanders, and then Dan Snyder took all of his draft picks and traded them for Robert Griffin the 3rd immediately after that, which was hilarious.
Um, but one of the things that, uh, those guys talked to me about, which I thought was really interesting was they were like, hey, this is the part of it that nobody’s talking about.
After that paper came out, a bunch of their guys got hired to advise teams during the NFL draft.
And the one thing that they said, Was that, oh my God, I can’t believe how cheap future picks are because it’s still a first round pick.
It’s just 2 years from now, so who cares?
It’s like, you know, it was basically like buying a distressed asset that always matures into something valuable, um, and so that’s Howie Roseman’s take on it, right?
He did it with Hassan Ruddick 2 years ago, right?
Like, and then it seemed like that pick was all that, that, that pick seemed like it was so far off, right.
Well, that pick that they traded for from the Jets 2 years ago, because he has a job security to do it, he doesn’t have to worry about somebody else making that pick for, for the Eagles.
That pick wound up becoming Marquel Bell, and not only that, like, so we’ll see what happens with the, the Miami tackle that they drafted there, right?
But it also freed them up to move their other third-round picks, you know, so they moved one of those 3rd-round picks then for Jalen Phillips.
And then they went and then Jalen Phillips, they get the rest of the year out of him and then they moved another 3rd round pick which they got as a comp pick for Milton Williams to go get Jonathan Gernard to replace Jalen Phillips, you know, so it gave them a ton of flexibility in what they were able to do with veteran players, not just , you know, drafting guys.
So, um, yeah, for sure, like I think Howie’s been at the forefront of a lot of that and makes sense.
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