It’s New England or bust in the A.J. Brown trade market.
With the disgruntled receiver repeatedly appearing unhappy and wanting out of Philadelphia, new reports are surfacing that a decision will be made on his future with the team shortly.
“It certainly seems like it will be the Patriots or the Eagles for A.J. Brown with an answer likely coming pretty soon,” NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport posted on social media Thursday.
New England set itself up for a Brown acquisition when the team released their top receiver, Stefon Diggs, earlier this week, leaving them with just Kayshon Boutte, DeMario Douglas and Kyle Williams as mostly unproven options as top pass catchers.
Brown previously played for Patriots coach Mike Vrabel with the Titans and the two have a close relationship.
Brown himself appears to be hoping to land in New England, as he appeared on a podcast with Patriots greats Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman in February, long before he was ever rumored to be traded there.
“Just remember, we’re all Patriots,” Edelman joked to Brown. “You know that, right?”
“Are you going to be a Patriot?” Gronkowski asked, while Edelman began to scream with excitement.
Someone behind the camera yelled, “Oh,” after Brown gave a smile and a wink to the two former Patriots Super Bowl winners.
Since then, Brown has been floated out in trade discussions, with multiple reports surfacing that the Eagles had been listening to trade offers for Brown at the NFL Combine.
Philadelphia reportedly wants a similar price point to what the Jets received for Quinnen Williams – a first-round pick, a second-round pick and a player.
Brown has still been productive for the Eagles, making it even more confusing about what is purportedly causing him to look elsewere.
The former Ole Miss tar has tallied at least 1,000 yards receiving in all but one season in his career, though his 1,003 yards last year marked the second-lowest output of his NFL career and the worst in any season in which he appeared in at least 14 games.