AJ Brown to Pats for 2028 1st & 2027 5th

[Hsker4life]

It’s a gamble. AJB is coming off a noticeable dip in production and he’s a complete mental case.

 

If he plays to his talent level, it is a huge win for NE. But that’s a big if.

 

 

[wjag]

In the last day or so I have heard a lot of references to a "degenerative knee" issue.  If that is true, he is only good for a couple of years.  

[BigDingus]

Stefon Diggs had a 1,000+ yard seasons with Drake Maye less than a year removed from an ACL tear & almost 4 years older than AJ Brown.

 

Pretty sure the Pats got someone with several good years left, all with plenty of cap space to do more. 

[SCBills]

2 minutes ago, wjag said:

In the last day or so I have heard a lot of references to a "degenerative knee" issue.  If that is true, he is only good for a couple of years.  

Sure, but he’s turning 29 this month.  Same age as DJ Moore.  
 

Like us, I’m sure they’re only banking on getting two prime years out of the trade. 
 

That said.. if the knee flares up like it sounds like it did a bit last year in Philly needing drained, it sounds an awful lot like potentially what we dealt with in Kincaid.  

[JP51]

16 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

brown is such a loose canon and is already teetering. This could really kill them. 

This is where I am at... I have had enough of Diva WRs, but it seems like a lot of them are... so what do you do... he could help them light it up or mess with the room, time will tell... Mike Vrable - Russini  doesnt tend to put up with a lot of crap so this guy will toe the line or it will not be pretty for anyone. 

[colin]

i might be a goof about this, but i think brown has less production for the pats than diggs had.

[atlbillsfan1975]

10 hours ago, cle23 said:

 

Hypothetical victories are the best!

 

NE won the division, split with Buffalo, and went to the Super Bowl, and almost everyone on this site is writing them off as some terrible team next year.  It's baffling.

If you know football and watched the games, you realize NE was maybe the luckiest team since the NYG led by Kerry Collins to make a SB. When they played a complete team down the stretch they lost. Including the Bills. I have zero doubt that NE takes a huge step back and doesn’t win 10 games this year. 

[MasterStrategist]

10 hours ago, cle23 said:

 

Hypothetical victories are the best!

 

NE won the division, split with Buffalo, and went to the Super Bowl, and almost everyone on this site is writing them off as some terrible team next year.  It's baffling.

Pats are a very good team, nobody should be writing them off.

 

But they also have question marks like anyone else.  Last year was last year.

 

On the opposite side of discussion, I think many think Maye is going to take another huge leap forward --- will that happen?  NEs defense played lights out, and basically won them the AFC title -- can they stay healthy again and repeat that success?

 

The way I look at it --- I think our defense gained ground on theirs, just from the acquisitions and defensive scheme change coming this season.  Then on offense, we now have a WR that can actually win 1-1 matchups in DJ, we had nobody like that last year (Diggs could still do that for NE last season and Boutte was a downfield threat).

 

A lot of teams can achieve huge success in a single season, primarily due to things falling into place perfectly.  Can they sustain it?  I think that's the looming question for New England, but it certainly doesn't take anything away from their 2025 and talented team.

[Dillenger4]

3 hours ago, PatsFanNH said:

In a blizzard it would have been anyone’s game…  As for this year I expect the Offense, especially the line have growing pains early as they revamped it a lot. So that game in October could be interesting.

Yeah - your OL is garbage. Well, not garbage, but not good. Maye will struggle this season too. He has tendencies that Bills and Hawks figured out.

[NoSaint]

1 hour ago, wjag said:

In the last day or so I have heard a lot of references to a "degenerative knee" issue.  If that is true, he is only good for a couple of years.  

but that’s all anyone’s looking for out of him anyway 

[Bray Wyatt]

How much of an improvement over Diggs stats are we expecting? Diggs season last year:

 

2025 Regular Season (NE)

Games (G): 17

Targets (Tgt): 102

Receptions (Rec): 85

Receiving Yards (Yds): 1,013

Yards per Reception (Y/R): 11.9

Receiving Touchdowns (TD): 4

Longest Reception (Lng): 51 yards

Catches per Target (Cch%): 83.3% ESPN+1

 

 

[Rigotz]

18 hours ago, BVBILLS said:

cheap

 

 

18 hours ago, Pete said:

2028 1st?  Very affordable 

 

AJ Brown was a "cheap" trade 4 years ago when the Eagles traded a 1st and 3rd for him. He was 25 years old and getting paid $20M a year.

 

Now he's 29 and the Pats are inheriting $50M in void year dollars 2030-2033. If you're not familiar with what that means, they pay him $20M in 2030 whether he's on the team or not. If he's on the roster, it's all additional. Then $15M, $11M, and $6M in the following years. He'll be in his mid-30's at that point.

 

For some reason, nobody cares about the future on this message board and thinks a 2028 draft pick is soooo much cheaper than a 2027 draft pick. The reality is it all matters and this is not a cheap deal. Especially if that 2028 1st round pick is a top 10.

 

Link: https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/player/_/id/29087/aj-brown

Edited June 2 by Rigotz

[Got 2 Billieve]

Funny how perspective works.  Pats get Brown and it's....he's washed up, a diva and has no hands.   If we made that trade it would.be ..we have the best WR combo in the league....excellent move by Beane, Superbowl bound etc. 

 

The sky is not falling, but the bottom line here is the Pats getting another weapon only hurts the Bills.  

[Captain Hindsight]

2 minutes ago, Got 2 Billieve said:

Funny how perspective works.  Pats get Brown and it's....he's washed up, a diva and has no hands.   If we made that trade it would.be ..we have the best WR combo in the league....excellent move by Beane, Superbowl bound etc. 

 

The sky is not falling, but the bottom line here is the Pats getting another weapon only hurts the Bills.  

I wouldn't have wanted Aj Brown, personally. Dude has talked his way out of two cities now, and they want him to go play with a young QB who is coming off a pretty devastating loss in the SB. 

 

I don't think he moves the needle that much for them. He's a good player, but if they were looking for a 1000-yard receiver, they had one and cut him. If feel like the Diggs vs Brown trade, plus all the cap implications and a future 1... just seems like a big trade that doesn't change the roster that drastically 

[PatsFanNH]

38 minutes ago, Dillenger4 said:

Yeah - your OL is garbage. Well, not garbage, but not good. Maye will struggle this season too. He has tendencies that Bills and Hawks figured out.

Yah a tendency try do something when being tackled after getting 1 sec to throw.. lol but again was only year 2 but more important than that was year 1 with a good OC.. love him or hate him McDaniels is a real good OC. This will also be the first time he has had the same OC 2 years in a row since HS. (I think it’s been a long time kid keeps getting a new OC every year!)

[NewEra]

45 minutes ago, Rigotz said:

 

 

AJ Brown was a "cheap" trade 4 years ago when the Eagles traded a 1st and 3rd for him. He was 25 years old and getting paid $20M a year.

 

Now he's 29 and the Pats are inheriting $50M in void year dollars 2030-2033. If you're not familiar with what that means, they pay him $20M in 2030 whether he's on the team or not. If he's on the roster, it's all additional. Then $15M, $11M, and $6M in the following years. He'll be in his mid-30's at that point.

 

For some reason, nobody cares about the future on this message board and thinks a 2028 draft pick is soooo much cheaper than a 2027 draft pick. The reality is it all matters and this is not a cheap deal. Especially if that 2028 1st round pick is a top 10.

 

Link: https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/player/_/id/29087/aj-brown

Wow, I did not know that.  Thanks for sharing

[PatsFanNH]

24 minutes ago, Captain Hindsight said:

I wouldn't have wanted Aj Brown, personally. Dude has talked his way out of two cities now, and they want him to go play with a young QB who is coming off a pretty devastating loss in the SB. 

 

I don't think he moves the needle that much for them. He's a good player, but if they were looking for a 1000-yard receiver, they had one and cut him. If feel like the Diggs vs Brown trade, plus all the cap implications and a future 1... just seems like a big trade that doesn't change the roster that drastically 

Diggs isn’t half the WR Brown is right now! And he only was a 1000 yard receiver because Maye willed it to happen he faded badly the last 3 games and the entire playoffs. 

[st pete gogolak]

13 minutes ago, PatsFanNH said:

Diggs isn’t half the WR Brown is right now! And he only was a 1000 yard receiver because Maye willed it to happen he faded badly the last 3 games and the entire playoffs. 

Diggs didn’t come through in the playoffs?  Shocked, shocked I tell you!

[The Frankish Reich]

2 hours ago, BigDingus said:

Stefon Diggs had a 1,000+ yard seasons with Drake Maye less than a year removed from an ACL tear & almost 4 years older than AJ Brown.

 

Pretty sure the Pats got someone with several good years left, all with plenty of cap space to do more. 

He is going to be good. Really good.

They won the off-season. Sad but true.

[HappyDays]

1 hour ago, Rigotz said:

Now he's 29 and the Pats are inheriting $50M in void year dollars 2030-2033. If you're not familiar with what that means, they pay him $20M in 2030 whether he's on the team or not. If he's on the roster, it's all additional. Then $15M, $11M, and $6M in the following years. He'll be in his mid-30's at that point.

 

It's a consideration for sure, but the Pats are taking the approach of trying to win a Super Bowl while Maye is on his rookie deal which is absolutely the right strategy. And $20M in dead money isn't all that crazy. That's the combined dead money hit of Taron Johnson and Matt Milano this year. And in 2030 the cap will likely be at least $100M more than it is today.

 

This trade will come down to health. If Brown's knee is okay the Pats just got a bona fide #1 WR for the next three seasons. Maye is a good vertical passer so Brown is a good fit. I'm not going to beat around the bush, this is a great trade for the Pats and makes them a tougher out for us. I still like our chances to win the division though.