Overview
- The Eagles traded A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots on June 1 in a deal that sent a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick to Philadelphia to ease the team’s immediate salary-cap profile.
- NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported that Brown left a signed Pro Bowl photo at the Eagles facility with the message, “The best to ever play here, always open,” a detail first sourced to someone inside the Eagles locker room.
- At Patriots minicamp reporters asked Brown about the message and he declined to discuss it on the record, saying he appreciated his time in Philadelphia and that he was focused on where he currently is.
- Coverage has diverged on whether Brown ‘confirmed’ leaving the note, with some outlets framing his refusal to discuss it as confirmation and others sticking to his explicit on-the-record comment, a split that has driven continued scrutiny.
- Brown departs Philadelphia after four seasons, more than 5,000 receiving yards and a Super Bowl, and he now projects to be the Patriots’ primary receiving weapon while the inscription reshapes public perceptions of his exit and both teams’ offseason narratives.