DÉJÀ VU FOR A.J. BROWN IN NEW ENGLAND?

A.J. Brown helped the Eagles reach two Super Bowls, winning one. Photo by Andy Lewis.

It was only four years ago that Howie Roseman and the Philadelphia Eagles looked at their third-year QB in Jalen Hurts and decided to get him a true number 1 WR in A.J. Brown to help elevate his growing game to the next level.

While the water is still murky as to why that partnership lost its luster in the end, the results of that deal more than speak for themselves.

Four straight playoff appearances, two trips to the Super Bowl, and one Lombardi Trophy as a team, all while Brown accumulated over 5,000 yards and 37 receiving TD’s just himself over that span.

GM’s who are parting with first round picks for talent in the league would kill or that level of ROI and so while it may have ended more prematurely than fans and the Eagles themselves would have hoped, it’s hard to argue it was anything other than an overwhelmingly successful move.

Turn the pages to the present and now the New England Patriots, who are coming off a highly improbable run to the Super Bowl in which they looked severely outclassed are looking to see if Brown can help move the needle for their young QB in Drake Maye who is entering his third year in the league.

When you go back to last season, the playoffs and Super Bowl especially as the competition ratcheted up, the two biggest flaws we saw were the Patriots’ lack of top end playmaking talent and their inability to protect at the line of scrimmage.

The New England Patriots hope A.J. Brown can take them back to the promised land. Headshot from patriots.com.

They’ve pumped resources into fixing both of those issues between Free Agency and the Draft, but none bigger than trading a future first and fifth round pick for Brown who they hope will find new life revitalizing the Patriots receiving room and reuniting with his former HC from Tennessee, Mike Vrabel.

The experiment has seemingly gotten off to as hot of a start as the Pats and their fans could have hoped as his chemistry with Maye grew over the OTA period of the offseason earning him praise from the coaching staff and the defensive players tasked with facing off on this tandem in practice.

While Brown took heat last season for lacking a fully charged motor in Philly along with speculation that injuries may have ultimately slowed down the three-time Pro Bowl WR, those things along with his apathetic attitude he deployed last season with the media, look to be a thing of the past.

Brown is coming into NE with nine touchdowns on balls that traveled over 20 yards downfield over just the last two seasons and is now joining the QB who had the highest EPA per drop back on those same deep targets in 2025.

Both Brown and the Patriots are fighting back against the narratives that shaped 2025 between the supposed “cakewalk” that allowed NE to overachieve and the fall from grace that Brown went through in Philly, especially after the season ended on dropped balls between him and Hurts.

The NFL is no stranger to redemption arcs and if this offseason is any precursor to what the future holds for this partnership; both Brown and the Patriots may be fully headed towards one. *

Email Matt Santoleri at m.santoleri13@gmail.com