The long-awaited trade of wide receiver A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots finally came to fruition on Monday. But as the deal went down, it further raised the question of how things went sour so quickly between Brown and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Brown’s relationship with Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was widely speculated as a top reason why Philadelphia opted to move on from the star pass-catcher. Brown confirmed that his relationship with Hurts wasn’t as strong as it once was during an appearance on the “7 p.m. in Brooklyn” podcast. However, Brown dispelled the notion that he holds any animosity toward Hurts.
“Not as close as we once were. I believe that’s fine. There’s no bad blood. There’s actually a lot of love. I love him. I love him to death. I want him to succeed and accomplish all the things he wants to accomplish,” Brown said. “I didn’t truly understand why our friendship became the center of everybody’s attention when it came to football, because, looking back at it, we haven’t been as close as we were for a couple of years now.”
Brown took to social media to air out his frustrations with the Eagles’ offense throughout the 2025 season. Even though Brown had 78 receptions for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns, he continued to be visibly upset by not having a consistent role in Philadelphia’s offense.
That led to rumors about Brown’s relationship with Hurts and what might have caused the two to grow apart. But Brown isn’t sure what might have led to his relationship with Hurts souring.
“Nothing happened. People just grow apart, and nothing happened between me and him or our families, wives or anything. Nothing like that ever happened,” Brown said. “But life happens. You just look up sometimes and find yourself drifting away, and that’s fine. I think both parties accepted that.”
Brown and Hurts played together for four seasons, with the wide receiver joining the Eagles after he was traded from the Tennessee Titans in 2022. Together, the pair appeared in two Super Bowls, with a win in Super Bowl LIX against the Kansas City Chiefs in 2025. Last season, the Eagles’ run to repeat fell short, losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card round.
That loss ended up marking the end of Brown’s time in Philadelphia, with trade rumors swirling shortly after. And as the rumors began, Brown shared that he told his agent he didn’t want to be with the Eagles anymore.
“Just talked to my agent. Had a one-on-one sit-down, and he got the green light from me,” Brown said. “I was kind of behind the scenes. I wasn’t pushing anything and he worked his magic, you know? So, we’re here.”
It had been reported for months that the Patriots would be the likely landing spot for Brown. There were a few reasons why New England would’ve enticed Brown, too. The Patriots were coming off a Super Bowl run, with Drake Maye emerging as one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks. On top of that, heading to New England means that Brown will reunite with his former Titans head coach, Mike Vrabel.
But as Brown landed with a team that many thought was an ideal landing spot for him, he denied that he requested to only be traded to a certain team.
“I kind of let [my agent] handle that,” Brown said. “Obviously, I know it’s my career, but I trust him in that area, in that space. That’s your job. We talked about a few things, not to get into details, but I let him know all of it. Like I said, it was one of those things where I sat back and enjoyed my family each and every day. That’s my only focus: being the best father and husband I can be.”
