A.J. Brown Trade Speculation: Remembering How Much Worse Things Can Be
Hey, have you heard A.J. Brown might demand a trade?
Probably yes, it’s going to be a leading talking point of the offseason.
While I’m on the record saying I don’t want to trade him, there’s not much you can do if he eventually holds out.
Here we’ll talk about how the grass isn’t always greener and why holding onto AJ Brown is the wiser decision.
AJ Brown has a strong case for the best receiver in Eagles history. In his first two seasons, he set back-to-back franchise records for yards in a season. Yes, it is important to note that he had an extra game (17) compared to Mike Quick (16) and three more than Terrell Owens (14). These two, plus Harold Carmichael, are players who would have an argument against him.
Carmichael was with the team for a long time and is the franchise leader in total yards. He also played from 1971 to 1984, so I’m confident we have better athletes nowadays than shortly after we went to the moon. T.O. was only with the team for two years before his famous crash-out and joined the rival Dallas Cowboys. Just going from Philly to Dallas on your own decision-making is good enough for me to leave you off an all-time Eagles player list. While Mike Quick does have a lot of flashy single-season records, the truth is that AJ Brown is around 1,400 yards away from passing his totals. Reminder that in each of his first two seasons, he had over 1,400.
The Eagles franchise isn’t known for its wide receivers’ prowess, especially in the draft.
Listen, I grew up in the truly dark age of Eagles Wide Receivers. I can highlight it by saying that I was a Todd Pinkston believer when I was growing up. Sure, he was terrified of getting hit after the catch that his co-workers catch. Every now and then, though, he would fly down the field and make a beautiful catch. Then again, the top autofill when I type “Todd Pink…” into YouTube is “Todd Pinkston alligator arms,” so that’s definitely nostalgia talking. You can ignore the highlights I was going to try and bias you like I was as a kid.
Sure, there are the exciting picks, like when the Eagles drafted Jeremy Maclin, DeSean Jackson, and, recently, DeVonta Smith. These are definitely more of an exception to the rule than a standard norm. For every good player, there’s a Jalen Reagor, JJ Arcega-Whiteside, Mack Hollins, Quez Watkins, John Hightower, and Nelson Agholor (although he was a contributing factor on the team that won the Super Bowl).
The truth is that you can’t just assume you’ll draft a better player. Even the records for Eagles receivers are fairly bleak.
Looking historically at the Eagles’ receiving leaders should also show you how transformational AJ Brown has been. He’s already 9th overall for total yards with the franchise, and only three players above him are technically Wide Receivers. One of them played the position of “Flanker,” which sounds more like a soccer or military term, but honestly, it should be brought back. To explain it, it’s the slot receiver, so they’re a wide receiver but line up off the line. There are also just as many players from the ’60s who played both sides of the ball. The other two are tight ends. Not exactly a star-studded lineup when it comes to Eagles receivers.
Thanks for taking a look back at the Eagles’ wide receiver position group with me.
Hopefully, you are more tolerant of AJ Brown’s antics, considering the dark history at the position.
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