Trading for A.J. Brown has its risks, but the New England Patriots absolutely needed to make a deal happen.
They needed a new No. 1 receiver for Drake Maye to help with his development. They needed someone who could be a legitimate deep threat and open up the rest of the field for everyone else (Romeo Doubs, Hunter Henry, the running game) to do their damage. And they needed to make a big change to build on the momentum they built with their Super Bowl appearance last season.
Even so, there are a lot of fans, media, etc., who feel like this trade will come back to bite New England in the end. And I'm here to tell you exactly why it won't.
A.J. Brown's knees shouldn't be that big of a problem
"His knees are toast."
Admittedly, this is a pretty valid concern regarding Brown. He has dealt with knee injuries his entire time in the NFL and even revealed in an interview on the "Pardon My Take" podcast last year that he was getting his knee drained twice a week during the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl season. And given that he's 28 years old, it's safe to assume it's not going to get any better moving forward.
(Also, while we're on the topic, it's not like Brown is 33 years old and is ramping up for a retirement tour. Sure, it would be great if he were 24-25 still, but he's right in the midst of his prime and still has a lot of good football left. Even Randy Moss was 30 years old when the Patriots traded for him in 2007.)
However, it hasn't stopped him from playing games (he played in 15 games just last season and has never played fewer than 13 games in a season. Plus, Stefon Diggs, who tore his ACL in October 2024 at 31 years old, just had a bounce-back season in New England (85 receptions, 1,013 yards, four touchdowns).
The Patriots know what they're signing up for, and they wouldn't have traded for the Mississippi native if his knees were truly that much of a concern.
A.J. Brown's 'bad attitude' has been completely overblown
"He's a diva."
I've always thought calling Brown a "diva" was a little much, but many have given him that label because of his evident unhappiness during his time in Philadelphia, even while the team was winning, showing out on the sidelines, visibly being frustrated about his lack of targets, and whatever was going on with him reading a book on the sidelines during the 2024 Wild Card game against the Green Bay Packers.
It's also pretty clear that Brown just wants to win and be involved, assuming he was actually frustrated during his time with the Eagles. And with the Patriots (which he has repeatedly said was his favorite NFL team growing up) and back with Mike Vrabel, this shouldn't be a problem. (And, again, many people said this about Diggs last season, and things turned out A-OK in the end.)
Patriots trading a 2028 first-round pick really doesn't mean all that much
"The Patriots gave up way too much to get Brown."
Two things are true in this case: 1) trading a first-round pick is a very steep price, especially for Brown, and 2) the Patriots probably weren't going to draft anybody better than Brown with that pick anyway, especially if they went the receiver route.
New England has been notoriously bad at drafting early-round receivers in recent years (Ja'Lynn Polk in 2024, Tyquan Thornton in 2022, N'Keal Harry - who it drafted ahead of Brown in the first place - in 2019, and even Aaron Dobson in 2013 if we want to stretch it out a little bit longer), and on top of that, that pick should be a late-first anyway at this rate.
The Patriots needed to get someone who could help them make another Super Bowl run this season and could help them compete in the long run. Trading for Brown certainly gets them both, keeping their pick potentially gives them neither.
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