Sports

The A.J. Brown Trade Was the Move the Patriots Needed to Make

By Doug Farrar Athlon Sports

If you gave any member of the New England Patriots a dose of truth serum, and asked them whether the team's Super Bowl LX berth was a surprise, they'd mostly likely (albeit begrudgingly) admit that it was. This, after all, was a team that finished with matching 4-13 records in Bill Belichick's final season in 2023, and Jerod Mayo's lone season as head coach in 2024. Hiring former Tennessee Titans head coach (and former Patriots linebacker/red zone receiver) Mike Vrabel to replace Mayo was seen as the right move, but who on Earth expected am AFC-best 14-3 record?

Maybe Vrabel and a few of his friends, but those Patriots didn't seem ready for prime time at all. Of course, it's different now. These Patriots aren't just managing Vrabel's offseason controversies; they're also trying to shore things up at multiple positions so that a repeat Super Bowl run isn't outside the realms of possibility. This is especially true of a receiver corps that was league-average at best, and underwhelming at worst. Second-year quarterback Drake Maye did all he could to be a prospective Most Valuable Player candidate with a receiver corps featuring a group of decent targets (Stefon Diggs, Hunter Henry, Mack Hollins, Kayshon Boutte, Demario Douglas), but no true alpha dog.

The Patriots did something very smart and under the radar already with the four-year, $68 million contract with $39 million guaranteed given to former Green Bay Packers receiver Romeo Doubs. While Doubs isn't the true No. 1 receiver the team needed, he's a perfect No. 2 in that he can win in multiple ways from all over the formation.

And then on Monday, the deal that had been promised for months came to pass. New England traded a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for receiver A.J. Brown. This move reunites Brown with Vrabel, who was with the Titans when they selected him with the 51st overall pick in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft out of Mississippi, and it does a lot more... especially for one Drake Maye.

Here's how Brown can make the Patriots' passing game much, much better.

Related: Fantasy Football Reaction: Eagles Finally Trade A.J. Brown to the Patriots, Pending Physical

A.J. Brown's frustration days are over

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Very few people were happy about the dismal offense put together by Eagles head coach Mick Sirianni and offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, and Brown was perhaps the most frustrated. Patullo's passing game was simplistic on a good day (which were few and far between), and rancid at other times. One of the weirdest things about that passing game is how often Brown was used as a decoy for other receivers to get open - a schematic decision that took Philly's best receiver off the table when he was still more than able and willing to help.

This was really the case on vertical routes, which the 6-foot-1, 226-pound Brown has been able to weaponize at a high rate throughout his NFL career.

This also led to Brown as the odd man out when Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was going through his progressions.

"I see the offense struggling, and I want to help contribute," Brown said last November. "And I didn't get those opportunities. And so, like, I'm gonna have a problem with that, especially with the player that I am, and especially with the player like you want me to be.

"I don't care if I'm misunderstood, like, I'll stand up in front of that and fall on that sword over and over again. Like, it's about doing what we're supposed to be doing on offense. And if we are really in this business for trying to get better, we gotta do what we gotta do. And not just say, ‘Oh, it's about wins, like, as long as we got the win, it's cool.' No, that ain't - you cannot do that, not in this league. We gotta continue to get better."

That Brown still managed to grab 81 catches on 127 targets for 1,028 yards and seven touchdowns with all those constraints speaks to the talent he still does have, and how that talent could be better utilized in an offense better-suited to his skills.

Fortunately, Brown is now with a team - and aligned with a quarterback - that compounds to an ideal fit.

Drake Maye needs A.J. Brown in a major way

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In 2025, his second NFL season, Drake Maye became one of the NFL's most compelling quarterbacks in the regular season, and even when his protection fell apart in the playoffs, he had enough on the ball to hold things together - at least, until he met the "unicorn with fangs" that was the Seattle Seahawks' defense in the Super Bowl.

Maye proved to be a great deep passer, a true progression reader, and that rare quarterback who can read any blitz or coverage and come up with the right answer. And he did all of that without the advantages given to other young quarterbacks.

Per Sumer Sports, here's how well Maye and Brown align.

  1. Excellent fit on intermediate routes: Both prioritize hitch and vross routes, creating natural chemistry on quick-to-intermediate concepts
  2. Potential underutilization of Brown's deep threat ability: Brown's signature strength is his go route (22.5% of his routes, most productive at 3.07 yards/route), but Maye targets go routes less frequently (9.7%). Brown might not get as many deep shots as he's accustomed to with his current quarterbacks
  3. Adjustment needed on out routes: Maye loves out routes (17.1% of targets), but Brown runs them less frequently (8.9%). Brown would likely need to expand his out route usage to maximize chemistry
  4. Efficiency opportunity: Brown's slant routes are highly productive (4.14 yards/route), and while Maye targets them at a moderate rate (6.6%), there's room to increase this connection

The vertical stuff is where Brown could really turn Maye into a superstar. Last season on passes of 20 or more air yards, Maye completed 41 of 84 passes for 1,268 yards, 12 touchdowns, three interceptions, and a passer rating of 119.5, which made him one of the NFL's most efficient and prolific deep passers in the league. Even with all the dysfunction in Philly's 2025 offense, Brown still caught nine deep passes on 25 targets for 285 yards and four touchdowns. Maye has never had someone with Brown's physical tools and route understanding, so this should be a ridiculously great pairing.

Then, when you add in all the ways in which Doubs can get open with his own exhaustive route palette, the Patriots now have what amounts to a top-level NFL passing game with all the pieces in place.

Now, the Patriots' Super Bowl repeat run may have gone from probable to possible. At the very least, that passing game will be an entirely different beast in 2026 than it was in 2025.

Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This story was originally published June 1, 2026 at 2:31 PM.

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