It's been over a month since the A.J. Brown trade went down, and there have been debates about whether the Philadelphia Eagles came out as the biggest winners of the deal.
The Eagles shipped Brown to the New England Patriots to be Drake Maye's new number one receiver. Philly got a 2027 fifth-round pick and a 2028 first-round pick as part of the deal, but who won the trade?
An argument could be made that the Eagles came out on top of the deal, thanks to some help from a video game. Leaked information revealed some of the players' ratings in EA Sports' Madden NFL 27. The Eagles had multiple players in the top 100 overall and top 100 rookies.
- Lane Johnson, 97
- Saquon Barkley, 92
- Zack Baun, 92
- DeVonta Smith, 92
- Jordan Mailata, 91
- Dallas Goedert, 89
- Cooper DeJean, 89
- Quinyon Mitchell, 89
- Makai Lemon, 76
- Markel Bell, 73
- Eli Stowers, 72
One interesting fact about the list is that Smith got himself a 92 overall in the game. What was Brown's Madden rating? That's not known because he was not in the top 100, with Smith only getting beaten by six other NFL wide receivers in overall rating.
DeVonta Smith ranking higher than A.J. Brown shows Eagles won the trade
First off, this is proof that even Madden 27 feels that Smith is more of a number-one receiver than Brown is at this point. Smith led the Eagles in receiving yards for the first time since Brown joined Philly in 2022, with 1,008 yards, beating Brown by five yards.
Second, there was a clear regression in Brown's play in 2025, with many attributing it to his taking plays off due to being frustrated with his role in the offense. The reality was that he could not create the kind of separation from cornerbacks he used to, and he had more bad moments in games, like the drops in the NFC Wild Card Game loss to the San Francisco 49ers last season.
Anyone who watched Eagles football last year could clearly see that Smith was the better receiver, and Madden 27 sees it too. This means the Eagles got it right by finally completing the trade and getting the first-round pick fans were wanting from him.
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Philly is moving forward with Smith as WR1, already showing fans that he is ready to take that role and run with it. The Eagles appear to be the winners of the trade so far.
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