A.J. Brown’s trade situation with the Philadelphia Eagles is complicated by his contract.
Simply put, it’s not that easy to trade.
“Because almost all of Brown’s future money is tied up in option bonuses that can be prorated over future void years — rather than base salary — his contract represents a significant dead cap figure,” ESPN’s Ben Solak writes in a new article on Thursday. “Trading Brown when free agency opens would dump $43 million in dead money on the Eagles’ 2026 cap — more than twice his $23.4 million cap figure if he remains with Philadelphia.”
Obviously, a big contract is also tougher for another team to acquire, but the implications are plenty sizable just for the Eagles already.
Solak goes on to write that the way the numbers work out, it might make more sense for Philly to trade Brown in the summer. The problem with that is that less teams will still have a need for him than they do before free agency and the draft.
From there, Solak goes on to predict that the Eagles may stand pat on Brown for a while. But he doesn’t expect Brown to remain in town come Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season, either.
“It’s unlike Roseman to wait to see if the market breaks his way,” Solak writes. “My guess is the Eagles shed salary over the next week to make a pre-June 1 trade possible. If nothing materializes, they can use that cap room during the second wave of free agency to fill out some depth and then retest the market after June 1. Given the financial constraints of Brown’s deal, I increasingly believe he’ll be out of Philadelphia by Week 1.”
It would be a disappointing ending for the Eagles and Brown if he’s traded away, even if it’s what needs to happen.
He was a great acquisition for Philadelphia from the Titans and has been one of the league’s best wideouts, including for a Super Bowl team a year ago.
This season, though, was a bumpy one, with Brown frequently expressing his displeasure with his role.
That led to these trade rumors, and these rumors may at some point turn into reality.
Even if it takes a while, it’s looking more and more like the end result will be the Eagles trading Brown somewhere else.
