The Philadelphia Eagles kick-started their draft with a bold move, trading up to the No. 20 spot with the Dallas Cowboys to secure USC Trojans WR Makai Lemon in the first round.

With this trade, the Eagles’ stance on wide receiver A.J. Brown became clear. Micah Parsons, the Green Bay Packers linebacker, took to X to post his disappointment with the trade. 

“It’s amusing how many Eagles fans believe Aj Brown is the problem!”

The former Cowboys linebacker did not hold back speaking about this during his appearance on the Bleacher Report draft show on YT. 

“There’s no replacing A.J. Brown… It’s a demotion of A.J. Brown. The tenacity, the route running, the ability to go deep. I don’t care about the locker room. This is one of those times you don’t let great players walk out of the building that easy and just say, ‘oh, this is the replacement.’… you don’t replace great players.”

Parsons made the statement in response to the pushback A.J. Brown is receiving from the fans for the team’s struggles. He believes Lemon to be a supplement for Brown and not a replacement, as many are projecting. 

And to add to that record, Brown's production has toned down because of Brown’s fallout with quarterback Jalen Hurts, per Tim McManus and Jeremy Fowler from TSN. 

And as per Lou Landers from TheBigLead, Lemon’s selection directly to trade speculation, including a widely circulated scenario involving A.J. Brown being moved after June 1, when his salary becomes more manageable, and the cap math opens up for a potential acquiring team.

Eagles GM Clears Stance on Brown

The Eagles GM, Howie Roseman, has consistently refused to engage with the trade speculation publicly. Post the first round draft, he provided a fitting response to the current situation: 

“AJ is a member of the Eagles. We don't have any trades that have been made, or that are done. And I think for us, we're taking this one day at a time."

Analysts like Adam Schefter pointed out that the Eagles have added four wide receivers this offseason (Lemon, Hollywood Brown, Elijah Moore, and Dontayvion Wicks). This massive influx of talent almost guarantees that a veteran move is coming.

According to Michael Gallagher of Newsweek, the Patriots might be what awaits Brown.

“The New England Patriots are widely considered the favorite to acquire Brown, given his history with head coach Mike Vrabel. The two spent years together with the Tennessee Titans, and some believe Vrabel is the only head coach that Brown might not be a headache for.”

It remains to be seen if these are just analysis or if the Eagles are really looking to part with Brown, in one way or another.

What do you think AJ Brown's future looks like?

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Written by

Archana Ramakrishnan

Edited by

Zaid Quraishi