The Tennessee Titans became the latest team to trade a Pro Bowl wide receiver when they sent A.J. Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night. Head coach Mike Vrabel said the Titans did everything they could to keep Brown, but there are two sides to every story.
After he was traded to Philly for the 18th and 101st overall picks, Brown told ESPN’s Turron Davenport that the Titans only made him a low-ball contract offer. With the top wide receivers in the NFL now making between $25-30 million per year, Brown says he was only offered up to $16 million annually, with a chance to up that number to $20 million through incentives.
“This wasn’t my fault,” Brown said. “I wanted to stay, but the deal they offered was a low offer. The deal they offered wasn’t even $20 million a year.”
Brown said he was not looking to become the highest-paid receiver in the NFL. He agreed to a four-year, $100 million extension with the Eagles as part of the trade, but he says he would have taken less from Tennessee.
“I would have stayed if they offered me $22 million,” Brown said.
Brown’s new contract includes $57 million guaranteed. Tyreek Hill signed a deal worth $30 million per year with more than $70 million guaranteed after he was traded to the Miami Dolphins. Davante Adams’ new deal with the Las Vegas Raiders is worth just over $28 million annually with $67.5 million guaranteed.
Brown has two 1,000-yard seasons and 24 career receiving touchdowns in three years. He is one of the best possession wide receivers in football. Replacing him will be no easy task for the Titans, which is why some of their players are clearly unhappy with the trade.
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