While the Philadelphia Eagles deal with the aftermath of A.J. Brown’s drops, there are several places he could end up in a trade. And here is the perfect offseason trade the Eagles must make after losing to the 49ers in the Wild Card Round.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Eaglers were victimized by Brock Purdy’s go-ahead 4-yard touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey. That led to a 23-19 decision on Sunday.
The Eagles finished their run as the defending Super Bowl champion with a Wild Card thud. And nobody seemed more front and center in the loss than Brown. Often demanding the ball and pouting this season, Brown failed when the team relied on him.
Eagles should trade WR AJ Brown to the Ravens
The Ravens have the No. 14 pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. That’s the type of capital it would take to acquire Brown. But would it make sense for the Ravens?
Yes. Why? Lamar Jackson. The Super Bowl window is shrinking for Jackson. His injury-prone ways won’t get better with more age. He’s an eight-year veteran and 29 years old. As an elite NFL quarterback, maybe he has three or four years left.
But this may be the end of “prime” Jackson over the next couple of seasons. The Ravens can’t rebuild and hope Jackson will be healthy enough for those things to come together down the road. They need to strike hard in 2026 and 2027. And Brown would fit those plans.
It would give the Ravens a terrific one-two punch with Brown and Zay Flowers. The latter is already good, but he could really cause problems for opposing defenses with a real threat on the other side.
And adding Brown could actually extend Jackson’s career. Getting the ball out of his hand and trusting the toughness of Brown could help Jackson avoid hits.
But what does trade do for the Eagles?
The Eagles would pick twice in the first round. And this team is really only a couple of pieces away from getting right back to the top of the heap.
Plus, they could acquire Mark Andrews in this trade. That would give Jalen Hurts a nice one-two punch with both Dallas Goedert and Andrews to choose from in two tight-end sets.
Yes, they would have to replace Brown in the draft. But picking at No. 14 would give them that chance. If the cards fell their way, they might be able to grab Ohio State’s Carnell Tate. At 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, he would be the type of fit opposite DeVonta Smith that could keep this offense humming.
Here’s a look at what Tate can bring to the NFL table, according to nfldraftbuzz.com.
“Tate will thrive in an NFL offense that maximizes his route precision and intermediate excellence, profiling as a high-floor possession receiver who understands professional concepts,” NFL Draft Buzz wrote. “He's a natural Z-receiver who dominates in that 10-20 yard sweet spot where timing matters, with his smooth efficiency in all route-running aspects translating seamlessly to NFL systems.
“The tape shows a receiver whose body control at the stem and tactical intelligence create separation without elite burst, fitting perfectly into timing-based systems where quarterbacks need receivers who hit landmarks precisely and understand spatial leverage against zone coverage. His intermediate game and elite understanding of zone manipulation separate him from other prospects in this class.”
If the Eagles don’t want to bank on getting Tate in the draft, there’s another option.
Eagles could trade Brown and sign Buccaneers WR Mike Evans
What a home run this would be for the Eagles. Yes, there are injury concerns about Evans. And yes, this will be his age 33 season.
But if the Eagles plan on making another Super Bowl run, this would be a great replacement for Brown. And the good thing is, they could wait until they signed Evans before they pulled the trade trigger to send Brown to the Ravens.
Mainly, the Eagles need to send Brown packing. He has become a negative influence on the team. His sideline antics, cryptic social posts, and general mopiness have helped drag down the Eagles.
This is still a Super Bowl-level team. But it needs to regain the hunger and cohesiveness it had throughout the 2024 season.
