A.J. Brown claims Chiefs were interested before trade to Eagles

The defending champion Kansas City Chiefs entered the 2022 offseason with changes that not only affected the franchise and city but the whole league when the team traded star wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins. Because of that move, a majority of the NFL world thought that the Chiefs wouldn’t go further beyond the Divisional Round in the playoffs. Some even believe we wouldn’t even make the postseason.

The Chiefs were unwilling to meet Hill’s massive contract demands; they opted to trade him in exchange for draft capital and financial flexibility, it also helped the Chiefs sign both JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling, which was certainly enough to help the Chiefs win the Super Bowl. They also selected Skyy Moore out of Western Michigan in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, signed undrafted free agent Justyn Ross (which many still say is a steal), even though he redshirted due to injury and later dealt before the trade deadline for former Florida product Kadarius Toney from the New York Giants.

However, despite the success of Patrick Mahomes winning the Super Bowl and MVP (both the league and Super Bowl) without Hill, there has reportedly been has another popular receiver that said he could’ve been a Chief before the 2022 season. The star wideout who is reportedly saying that the Chiefs were in on him is Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown.

In a recent appearance on the Raw Room podcast, the star wideout said that when teams were lining up to acquire his services via trade last offseason, the Chiefs were one of those teams:

“My agent called me and was like, ‘Hey, Philly’s gonna try to, like, really push for you. They’re trying to push for you,’ or whatever. I’d been getting a couple of teams. The Chiefs tried to get me, a couple of other teams like the Jets and all of that stuff; but Philly’s making a strong push like, ‘We’re going to see what happens.’ I’m like, ‘alright,’ but you know what I want to do. I’m telling him, ‘You know what I want to do.'”

Don’t get me wrong. A.J. Brown is definitely one of the top-10 best receivers in the NFL today. He’s worth the deal he signed with Eagles as soon as the trade from the Tennessee Titans occurred. Adding Brown to the Chiefs offense would’ve potentially created a scary skill-position group headlined by Isiah Pacheco, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Travis Kelce and then Brown.

There’s no denying Brown is a dynamic playmaker, but the Chiefs didn’t need his talent even though it can’t be ignored, either, and adding him would’ve also come at a big price, in both money but draft capital as well. If the Chiefs spent that capital on Brown, we wouldn’t have gotten Trent McDuffie, George Karlaftis, and even Skyy Moore. If the Chiefs really wanted the two-time Pro Bowler that badly, they perhaps could have had him by now. He’s not with the Chiefs and the team arguably didn’t need him nor we don’t need DeAndre Hopkins or even Keenan “The Chiefs gonna get exposed” Allen. 

Remember, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel reportedly requested a trade last offseason before he signed his new extension. The Chiefs would always be a potential destination for any disgruntled wide receiver, but reports had indicated that the Chiefs were not involved in the Deebo sweepstakes. 

It may not be what Chiefs fans wants to hear but that stance by general manager Brett Veach makes a lot sense and today, and it makes sense now. Remember, the Chiefs opted to trade Hill for draft picks and financial room under the cap. Why would the Chiefs surrender those newly acquired picks just to put itself in the same financial logjam with a different star receiver?

That's the same reason the Chiefs weren’t going to make a move for a player like Brown or D-Hop. It’s like having a MVP quarterback on a rookie contract, like when Mahomes was MVP in 2018 or even Joe Burrow and Jalen Hurts, both of whom are extremely valuable to their franchise as they play on cost-controlled fixed deals for their first four to five seasons in the NFL. This allows franchises a nice window of opportunity to surround the young QB with a talented arsenal of weapons on offense and a strong defense on the opposite side of the ball before the QB commands a potential record-shattering extension.