Could Eagles use draft to lay groundwork to move on from A.J. Brown?
A.J. Brown spent the early part of his offseason reassuring fans that he’s happy to be part of the Philadelphia Eagles. But it may not matter in 2025.
Since coming over from the Titans in 2022, Brown has been the team’s No.1 receiver with 2,952 yards and 18 touchdowns. He ended 2023 as the league’s fifth-leading receiver after finishing fourth the year before while earning a pair of Pro Bowl nominations.
Brown is the best receiver the team has had since Terrell Owens. He’s also a bargain with a $12.4M cap hit for 2024, ranking him 21st at his position. Brown’s team-friendly contract has allowed the Eagles to sign players like Saquon Barkley and Bryce Huff to large contracts in the offseason.
But 2025 should be much different. Assuming Philadelphia signs Devonta Smith to his $15.5M, fifth-year option, he and Brown will cost the team more than $30M as Brown’s base salary increases to $15.2M.
More importantly, Brown’s cap hit jumps to $26M in 2025 and $41M in 2026, but Philadelphia holds an out-clause after next season. According to overthecap.com, the Eagles would absorb $6.7M in dead money for Brown and save $19.7M against the cap with a post-June 1 trade or release.
Perhaps that’s why the Eagles have plans to meet with wide receiver prospects like USC’s Brenden Rice and Ainias Smith from Texas A&M. Rice is the son of the NFL’s all-time leading receiver, Jerry Rice, and led the Trojans with 12 touchdowns last season.
At 6-foot-3, Rice is two inches taller than Brown, unlike Smith who’s listed at 5-foot 10. Smith led the Aggies with career-highs in receptions (53) and yards (795) last season but had only two touchdowns for the second-straight season.
Rice projects as a Day 2 draft prospect and Philadelphia owns a pair of second round picks. Smith could go on Day 3, where the Eagles have five picks, including three in the fifth round.
Brown was a second-round pick himself in 2019 ,but assuming Rice or Smith could ever take his place at this point would be foolish. They’d cost much less but Brown holds more value. If he continues to play well, a restructured contract with more reasonable numbers should follow.
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