Patriots fans woke up this week to a reminder of just how close New England came to watching A.J. Brown land elsewhere.
The three-time All-Pro wide receiver is now a Patriot after Philadelphia sent him north in June for a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-rounder.
Yet according to NFL insider Tom Pelissero, the Los Angeles Rams were a serious suitor until late in the process and nearly completed a deal that would have sent another star, Davante Adams, the other way.
The Rams had informed Adams for some time that they planned to trade him. They viewed Brown as the ideal replacement, a physical, contested-catch specialist who could immediately pair with Matthew Stafford. Talks advanced far enough that a swap appeared realistic. Then the Rams pulled back.
“The Rams told Adams they were going to trade him for a long time, and they really wanted A.J. Brown, but they backed away because they were worried about Brown’s knee,” Pelissero said on The Bill Simmons Podcast. “Which were some of the same concerns when (Brown) was traded from Tennessee (to the Eagles in 2022).”
Those concerns are not new. Brown has had his right knee drained at least three times in his career. He missed seven regular-season games across the past two seasons after sitting out only five total games in his first five NFL years.
The issue is chronic rather than acute, the kind of wear that medical staffs scrutinize when evaluating a player heading into his late 20s. Brown has long been praised for playing through pain, but the Rams decided the risk outweighed the reward.
New England took a different view. Brown had listed the Patriots among his preferred destinations, in part because of his history with head coach Mike Vrabel from their shared time in Tennessee.
The two have stayed close. In Foxborough he now joins Drake Maye, the young quarterback who led a surprising Super Bowl run last season. The combination of a proven outside threat and a developing passer with elite arm talent is exactly the kind of pairing Patriots fans have wanted for years.
The Eagles, for their part, moved on quickly, drafting USC receiver Makai Lemon in the first round after Brown’s exit.
Brown’s time in Philadelphia produced four 1,000-yard seasons and two Super Bowl appearances, but it also included public friction over the offense and his relationship with Jalen Hurts. That chapter is closed.
For Patriots supporters the story is simpler: a star they wanted almost went to a conference rival, until injury questions caused Los Angeles to blink.
New England is now betting that Brown’s toughness and production will outweigh the medical flags the Rams could not ignore. If that bet pays off, the near-miss will be remembered as one of the more fortunate twists of the 2026 offseason.
