Why Eagles may not have to wait until June to trade WR A.J. Brown after Dallas Goedert deal

It's well known that Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman may not trade mercurial wide receiver A.J. Brown before June 1 for reasons related to the salary cap.

However, reporters and analysts made that point before the Eagles worked out a one-year deal with tight end Dallas Goedert. That agreement allowed the Eagles to avoid taking on roughly $20.49M in dead money for 2026. It could also help make it easier for Roseman to trade Brown ahead of this year's draft. 

Why Eagles could trade A.J. Brown sooner than some previously thought

"If the Eagles trade Brown before June 1, they would carry a $43M dead-cap hit in 2026 while adding roughly $20M to their active cap," Mike Kadlick of Sports Illustrated shared on Sunday. "If they were to deal him after June 1, however, the dead cap hit drops to just $16.4M in '26 (with the remaining $27.1M pushing to '27) and would actually save them $7M on the active cap this season. Long story short, trading Brown before June 1 incurs a significantly larger dead cap number for Philadelphia, which in turn makes acquiring him more expensive for potential buyers. That said, the new agreement with Goedert now gives the team more financial wiggle room and, in theory, allows a Brown deal to happen sooner rather than later."

As recently as this past Friday, a story linked the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams with Brown. A previous report said that the Eagles were "inclined to only deal with AFC teams" for a potential Brown trade, and Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was Brown's head coach when the two were employed by the Tennessee Titans from 2019 through the 2021 season. 

Why Eagles may not want to wait to trade A.J. Brown

On Friday, Dianna Russini and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic noted that Roseman "won’t part with a great player for nothing, especially for an Eagles team in the middle of its championship window." Specifically, Roseman allegedly wants at least a first-round draft pick and a second-round selection in return for Brown, who signed a three-year, $96M extension with $84M in guaranteed money in the spring of 2024.

Roseman acquiring a couple of extra draft assets for Brown before the night of April 23 arrives could help the Eagles for the 2026 season and for their long-term future. It now appears there's at least a chance that the 28-year-old could have a new football home before the upcoming player-selection process gets underway in April.