{"id":269083,"date":"2026-04-22T12:00:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T16:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=269083"},"modified":"2026-04-22T07:31:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T11:31:39","slug":"fantasy-fallout-aj-brown-likely-to-be-traded-to-new-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/04\/22\/fantasy-fallout-aj-brown-likely-to-be-traded-to-new-england\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy Fallout: AJ Brown &#8220;Likely&#8221; To Be Traded To New England?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Eagles wide receiver AJ Brown has been no stranger to being in the news cycle this offseason. Brown&#8217;s name was a hot topic in trade talks, circulating well past the free agency period. NFL Insider Dianni Russini brought the heat as one of the main journalists covering the news early on. Now, more recently, Adam Schefter reported that it is &#8220;likely&#8221; that Brown will be traded to his desired location with the <span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/patriots\/\" target=\"_self\">New England Patriots.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A.J. Brown is likely to become a Patriot post June 1, per ESPN sources.<br><br>This and more in ESPN\u2019s annual NFL Draft intel column:<a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/62ZMrKGFLD\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/62ZMrKGFLD<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AdamSchefter\/status\/2046174326194356373?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 20, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\r\n<p>Should the Eagles go through with a trade post-June, it can change the very landscape of the fantasy world for both the Eagles and the Patriots. But what could fantasy managers be looking at should a deal go through? There are a few ways to see the impact a trade like this can have on each team this upcoming season.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<h2>The Philadelphia Eagles<\/h2>\r\n<p>The Eagles would be losing one of their best wide receiver threats in an offense that has done pretty well for fantasy football. Despite seeing a dip in production last season, AJ Brown still managed to finish as a top-15 wide receiver. Brown averaged 14.7 fantasy points on 121 targets, caught seven touchdowns, and finished with just over 1,000 yards. Brown has been an integral part of the Eagles&#8217; offense, which has paid off for fantasy managers in the past. Brown also commanded a 27.7% target share last season. With Brown off the roster, fellow wide receiver <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/04\/16\/a-j-brown-trade-devonta-smith-extension\/\" target=\"_self\">Devonta Smith<\/a> would become the Eagles&#8217; new WR1. Smith garnered a 22% target share behind Brown last season, seeing 113 targets. With an extra 121 targets going back to the pool, Smith would be an appealing target for fantasy managers after Brown exits via trade.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p>Another player who could benefit from extra targets is Dontayvion Wicks. He was <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/04\/11\/packers-trade-dontayvion-wicks-to-eagles-for-draft-picks\/\" target=\"_self\">traded to the Eagles<\/a> from the Green Bay Packers recently and could slot in as the new WR2 behind Devonta Smith. Wicks was not seeing a lot of work with the Packers as he was buried on the depth chart, fighting for playing time. He just barely finished with more targets than rookie receiver Matthew Golden, 46-44. Wicks now has an opportunity to steal a role during training camp this offseason. He will have to compete with Elijah Moore and Marquise Brown during training camp. However, Moore and Hollywood Brown are on one-year deals with minimal money. Wicks has signed a one-year extension worth $12.5 million, keeping him on the roster through the 2027 season.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sources: The <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Packers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Packers<\/a> are trading WR Dontayvion Wicks to the <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Eagles?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Eagles<\/a> and he is getting a 1-year, $12.5M extension in a deal done by <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DavidMulugheta?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@DavidMulugheta<\/a> of <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AthletesFirst?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@AthletesFirst<\/a>. <br><br>An important acquisition at a position of need before the Draft. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/GYZMsxjDEz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/GYZMsxjDEz<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RapSheet\/status\/2042702676001984690?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 10, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\r\n<p>Should Wicks win the WR2 spot (and the Eagles decide not to draft a wide receiver), he would be able to access a significant target share behind Smith for the Eagles. New offensive coordinator Sean Mannion could have the Eagles produce a more balanced offensive attack or something akin to the Rams or 49ers, due to his learning experiences and coaching tree. Should that be the case, Wicks&#8217; development as a featured piece in the Eagles&#8217; offense is key. Wicks averaged just 8.3 fantasy points per game with the Packers last season. That won&#8217;t cut it with the Eagles. Wicks has the versatility to be used in multiple areas of the field, similar to Devonta Smith. That would make both players nearly interchangeable in the offense, allowing them to see plenty of snaps.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBhzii9ITI\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 4729px; aspect-ratio: 4729\/3712;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\r\n<h3>The New England Patriots<\/h3>\r\n<p>With AJ Brown coming over to the Patriots, they now have a true WR1 for Drake Maye to continue developing heading into his third season in the NFL. Stefon Diggs is gone, freeing up 102 targets (20.3% target share) with his departure. Brown can also be a serious deep threat, a piece of the offense that Maye showcased last season despite being limited at the receiver position. Last season, Drake Maye led the league in Intended Air Yards Per Pass Attempt at 9.2 and had the second-most Completed Air Yards at 2,665. Maye&#8217;s ability and want to throw the ball downfield are a plus. Adding that to AJ Brown does offer upside for Brown&#8217;s fantasy value heading into the new season. But there is one concern fantasy managers should consider.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p>Drake Maye, despite having an <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/12\/30\/drake-maye-is-now-the-heavy-favorite-for-mvp\/\" target=\"_self\">MVP-caliber season<\/a>, threw only 492 pass attempts. That ranked 12th among quarterbacks in the NFL. Mike Vrabel&#8217;s offenses are known to be highly efficient when it comes to passing, while the real &#8220;meat and potatoes&#8221; of the offense leans towards the run game. Maye also had the highest completion percentage among quarterbacks at 72%. Meanwhile, the Patriots&#8217; run game ranked sixth in rushing yards with 2,191 yards. They also finished fifth in rushing touchdowns with 22. On the other hand, Maye was so outstanding last season, throwing for 31 touchdowns to just eight interceptions. The question now becomes, is that something Maye can replicate again with an even better receiving corps headlined by AJ Brown and Romeo Doubs?\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<h3>In Conclusion<\/h3>\r\n<p>It doesn&#8217;t appear that the wheels are falling off for AJ Brown despite how things ended in Philadelphia. Brown still has the skills to remain a dominant wide receiver. But are fantasy managers willing to invest in a player who is going to an offense that needs to be hyper-efficient? None of the Patriots&#8217; wide receivers cracked over 13 fantasy points on average during the 2025 season. Even Brown, during his days with the Titans, never cracked over 1,100 receiving yards. Brown&#8217;s last season with the Titans under Mike Vrabel, he finished as the WR32, according to Fantasydata. He jumped from the <a  href=\"https:\/\/fantasydata.com\/nfl\/fantasy-football-leaders?scope=season&amp;sp=2022_REG&amp;position=wr&amp;scoring=fpts_ppr&amp;order_by=fpts_ppr&amp;sort_dir=desc\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WR32 to the WR6<\/a> in his first season with the Philadelphia Eagles.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p>AJ Brown could be a risky player with fantasy managers hoping that the targets he&#8217;ll see with a rising Drake Maye, in an offense that wants to truly feature him as a main weapon in the passing game. But should the expectations pay off, Brown could be a stud at the position at a value. During the 2025 fantasy draft season, AJ Brown was being taken as the 10th-best wide receiver off draft boards. It will be interesting to see where Brown&#8217;s fantasy stock lands once everything is said and done after June 1st.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AJ Brown&#8217;s trade rumors are heating up! But what happens to the Eagles and Patriots if he&#8217;s traded in fantasy football?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5583,"featured_media":266319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[59,21],"tags":[5008,6670,9839],"class_list":["post-269083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy","category-eagles","tag-a-j-brown","tag-devonta-smith","tag-dontayvion-wicks"],"modified_by":"Sue Levine","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5583"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269083"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269083\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":278057,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269083\/revisions\/278057"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}