The early signals are that the Philadelphia Eagles are not exactly crushed to see the back of wide receiver AJ Brown.
Brown was finally traded to the New England Patriots on Monday, ending months of speculation about a potential deal. On Tuesday, Eagles All-Pro offensive lineman Jordan Mailata admitted that the end of the saga came as something of a relief.
Mailata said it was good that the Eagles would be able to move on and finally had a clear idea of whether Brown was in or out, and did not mince words about getting closure.
I think this is more of a — it sounds terrible — but like, thank God it’s over,” Mailata said.
Jordan Mailata on A.J. Brown trade: "Yes, we can move on now. I think most of us that have been here the last six weeks, we have moved on, just from, we have enough to worry about. Getting over last year, and then coming in here and learning a new scheme and new concepts, like we…
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) June 2, 2026
Mailata is not saying he is grateful and relieved that Brown is gone, just that the saga has been resolved. Still, it really does not seem like many Eagles players are too crushed to see the wide receiver go amid ongoing speculation that he was involved in some rifts behind the scenes.
As for the Eagles, they still have DeVonta Smith leading the wide receiver group, and they should still be able to be productive on offense. If Brown was proving to be a distraction, it might even be a case of addition by subtraction.
