Preparing for a World Without A.J. Brown
Whether you saw the signs last year or not, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the Eagles are preparing not to have A.J. Brown on the roster for the 2026 season.
From free agency and even during the draft, the Eagles have made moves that would suggest that, come Week 1, there will be a new (or familiar) face receiving most of the targets.
New Faces
When free agency started on March 11th, it took the Eagles a few days to start signing more than a few names.
On March 17th, Hollywood Brown was signed to a 1-year, $5M deal. Nothing too crazy, a suitable player to replace Jahan Dotson as WR3. And then 8 days later, on March 25th, the Eagles signed Elijah Moore to a 1-year, $1.315M contract. Awesome, they managed to shore up the depth alongside Darius Cooper and Johnny Wilson.
Then the trade for Dontayvion Wicks came through, with the Packers trading a 2026 5th and a 2027 6th. In 14 games last year, Wicks posted 332 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 30 receptions on 46 targets. Sharing the field with Romeo Doubs, Matthew Golden, Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, as well as Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft led to a very crowded passing game, but with an extension to keep Wicks into the 2027 season.
The message became increasingly clear: A.J. Brown probably won’t be part of the team for much longer.
Draft Day
Fast forward a few more weeks, and you get to draft day. Everyone in Eagles fandom had been praying and making mock drafts for months to get Kadyn Proctor, Max Iheanachor, or Emmanuel McNeil-Warren.
Well, for the low price of 23rd, and a couple of 4th round selections (114th and 137th), the Eagles were successful in jumping up to 20th overall and snatching USC’s Makai Lemon before the Steelers made the call at 21st.
The 2025 Biletnikoff winner finished his final college season with 79 receptions, 1,156 yards, and 11 touchdowns. And the Eagles will be looking towards growth from these numbers.
With two seasons above 1,400 yards, and an additional two years over 1,000 (and missing games), A.J. Brown isn’t an easily replaceable player.
So if another #11 ends up departing the Eagles in June, don’t be surprised.
With rumors and reports all offseason, with the actions of the team during both free agency and the draft, the writing is on the wall that another chapter for an Eagles WR is coming to a close.
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Categorized:Eagles