For months, the New England Patriots have been tangled up in trade rumors for A.J. Brown.
Patriots executives confirmed that, although a trade wasn’t imminent, there had been talks between both teams.
That makes sense, given that the Patriots still need a WR1, Brown clearly wants to be traded, and he already played for head coach Mike Vrabel for the Tennessee Titans.
That’s why, in the wake of even more evidence of Vrabel’s alleged relationship with NFL insider Dianna Russini, things may take an unfavorable turn for the Patriots.
How does the Mike Vrabel saga affect a potential A.J. Brown trade?
Joe Giglio of SPORTRADIO 94WIP argued that if the Patriots have to let Vrabel go — which is a big “if” — Brown might not want to be traded to New England:
“If Mike Vrabel has to step down, it changes everything. To me, the biggest reason why A.J. wants to be a Pat and the Pats want A.J. is Vrabel,” Giglio said.
Of course, the Eagles don’t have to do him any favors. They can/should trade him to the highest bidder, if they trade him at all.
Nevertheless, Brown has already burned bridges with the two teams he’s played for. Perhaps his new team won’t want to trade for him if they feel he’s going to be zoned out or doesn’t want to be there.
The Eagles have played the waiting game with Brown by design and necessity.
Trading him before June 1 would incur a huge dead cap hit, but they might also think they can convince him to stay.
If that’s not the case, they already have some insurance in USC rookie Makai Lemon, plus newcomers Dontayvion Wicks and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown.
Most signs point to Brown ending up in Foxborough, but with more and more compromising evidence popping up by the week and some questions about tampering, it’s hard to predict how this situation will end.