A.J. Brown caused a stir in the NFL world with his social media actions on Thursday. Coincidentally, they came a few hours after New England Patriots’ de facto general manager Eliot Wolf acknowledged the team’s interest in adding a veteran wide receiver.
So, is there a connection there? Well, the Patriots have actually inquired with the Philadelphia Eagles about trading for Brown, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported Thursday. However, the Eagles have told teams they aren’t trading the star wide receiver.
Of course, that probably won’t quiet the rumor mill about Brown. Philadelphia just extended DeVonta Smith, potentially making Brown expendable. But the rumors go back toward the end of last season, when he appeared to be upset with how the team was performing toward the end of a disappointing campaign.
Brown helped further ignite the rumors on Thursday when he changed the profile picture on his Twitter account to Tom Brady in a Patriots jersey. He explained that he did so because he was inspired by Brady after watching “The Dynasty” docuseries, but he also recently followed Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett and wide receiver K.J. Osborn on the social media platform.
What Eliot Wolf said about Patriots’ pursuit of wide receiver
While Brown might not be available, Wolf confirmed that the team has had trade talks about adding a wide receiver.
“We’ve had conversations with teams about different scenarios, not just at receiver, but at different positions,” Wolf told reporters. “So that’s definitely something we’d be open to.”
Beyond Brown, the most likely big-name receivers that the Patriots could feasibly target are Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins and San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. Higgins is on the franchise tag this offseason while Aiyuk is entering the final year of his rookie contract.
As of now, both teams have stated they have no plans to trade their star pass-catcher. But considering their contract situations and that each team already has another game-breaking wideout on the roster, it isn’t crazy to think the Bengals or Eagles could change their minds.
If so, the Patriots’ second-round pick (No. 34 overall) in the 2024 NFL Draft could become valuable in such a deal. If New England isn’t able to land a receiver, though, Wolf is confident with what the team already has at the position.
“We certainly have good receivers that we’re looking forward to working with,” Wolf said. “K.J. Osborn can play all three positions, we have Kendrick Bourne coming back, [DeMario Douglas], JuJu [Smith-Schuster], the list goes on. We feel like we have NFL receivers.”
Obviously, that can be debated after the performance of the team’s receivers last season. But the Patriots could upgrade their receiver room in the draft, too. This year’s draft class is considered a deep one at the position, with several mock drafts including over 10 receivers being selected with the first 50 overall picks.More must-reads: