Every Philadelphia Eagles fan had the same question going into the offseason: will the team trade star wide receiver A.J. Brown before, during, or after the 2026 season?
Brown is coming off the worst season as an Eagle with 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns. For the first time in his career, he did not lead the team in yards and was not selected as an All-Pro or Pro Bowler.
There have been several reports that Brown has asked to be traded multiple times throughout the season, as early as the Week 3 win over the Los Angeles Rams. After everything that happened on the sidelines and after the loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Wild Card, there is a real possibility of a trade actually happening, but how will the Eagles make it work financially?
Can the Eagles make an A.J. Brown trade less of a financial disaster?
CBS Sports' Joel Corry broke down players who could be traded or released in the offseason and how it could happen. Corry tackled Brown and discussed what it would mean for the Eagles.
"Brown's frustration with Philadelphia's offense, especially when he has a lack of touches, was a constant part of the equation this season. Eagles general manager Howie Roseman downplayed the notion of trading Brown during his end-of-season press conference. The Eagles are still trying to find a new offensive coordinator. That decision could have an impact on what happens with Brown.
The Eagles have an affinity for structuring contracts with multiple option bonuses. This choice creates more bonus proration than with other contract structures. Option bonuses are prorated over the life of contract for a maximum of five years just like signing bonuses. Although the Eagles are comfortable with having significant amounts of dead money each year, trading Brown before June 2 would add $27,161,609 to their 2026 salary cap obligations with the bonus proration from his 2027 through 2029 contracts accelerating forward.
Regardless of the timing of a 2026 trade, the Eagles would be getting a $5.49 million cap credit in 2027 because an option for the dummy/voiding 2031 contract year wouldn't be picked up and the associated $27.45 million payment (i.e. option bonus) wouldn't be made. This type of thing is occurring with the 49ers in 2026 because of trading Deebo Samuel to the Commanders without exercising an option in 2025 for a future voiding contract year."
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It's all going to come down to Roseman working his magic to try to make a trade happen without the $72 million dead cap in 2026 completely destroying the Eagles. If he can manage to do that, while Eagles fans love Brown, it might make the most sense to move on from him and get some good draft picks in the process.