Eagles' AJ Brown Update Shows Where Things Stand With Patriots

(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)

After reports indicated that the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots are expected to come together on an agreement to trade A.J. Brown to New England after June 1, it seems all but guaranteed that's where he'll end up.

However, while the two sides continue to seemingly have a deal in place, it doesn't sound like anything is guaranteed just yet.

That doesn't mean the Eagles and Patriots aren't going to get a deal done after June 1, but there are still some possibilities that could play out here, which is important news for Eagles and Patriots fans who think the deal is as good as done.

“It’s cordial, maybe a little awkward, because all sides know where this is headed around June, when the Eagles can save a lot of money on their dead salary cap,” Fowler said on SportsCenter, per On3. “A trade is still expected league wide. The sentiment says that AJ Brown would like a change of scenery, a new team, he’s not part of the offseason workouts. However, he has been in the building fairly recently to at least check in. And so it seems like all sides want this to work for the betterment of all parties involved and just kind of move on.

“And the New England Patriots are looming here, but they’re not bound by any sort of agreement yet. You know, they could have drafted a receiver. They didn’t. So it looks like he’s still on track to potentially be a Patriot, but they have to work out, really, a contract situation. He’s due about $29 million this year. Who’s going to pay for it? Certainly, the Eagles could just pass that along to the new team. They got to work out compensation, first-round picks that the Eagles want. So a lot still to be sorted out, but the feeling is he will not be in green come a month from now.”

If I had to guess, this deal probably is as good as done, though it's important to remember that we've seen crazier things happen, and there can always be a team that gets in the mix to steal Brown from the Patriots if they truly believe that they're going to land him after all of these reports.