The Los Angeles Rams are always one of the first teams to pop up in trade rumors for star players and it’s inevitable that they will be connected to A.J. Brown when the season is officially over. But if the Rams want to find a future after Davante Adams by trading for Brown, they should not do it for at least one simple reason: A.J. Brown is also too old.
The Eagles are hoping to find a sucker.
Ignore what Eagles GM Howie Roseman says about the team not intending to trade Brown, that’s the same schlock that general manager say every year about players on the block. It’s 2026: You can’t still be falling for that in this age.
Yes, Brown had a terrible game in Philly’s loss to the 49ers last week.
Yes, Brown seems to be a diva.
Yes, Brown is costly.
But those aren’t the main reason that a team shouldn’t trade anything significant for A.J. Brown. He’s just too old.
And he’s only 28. Well, wake up, it’s 2026: That’s too old to be a receiver in the National Football League. Every player in the top 12 in receiving yards in 2025 is 26 and younger:
26!!!
A.J. Brown, who had 1,003 yards in 15 games, is going to turn 29 in June. He’s not too old…he’s WAY too old.
Not too old to be in the NFL, but certainly too old to pay $30 million or trade a first round pick to acquire. Those are the types of costs you pay for an elite receiver you can build your offense around and Brown, who was that value in 2022 when the Eagles acquired him at age 25, is not that guy anymore.
If Roseman thinks that pretending he won’t trade A.J. Brown will drive up his price to a first round pick, he’ll be waiting all year for a taker.
How about a second round pick? That’s what the Steelers traded for DK Metcalf and then they paid Metcalf $33 million per season. How’s that looking?
Metcalf, who just turned 28, had 850 yards and was suspended for the last two games of the season for making the exact same “Mr. Sensitive” mistakes that he made while he was a cheaper player in Seattle. That’s really when you want to have a star receiver: When he’s cheap and on a rookie contract or second contract.
But the Steelers traded for Metcalf and paid him a third contract. The Eagles paid Brown a third contract in 2024 and they already regret it.
Will Eagles trade Brown?
If the Eagles trade A.J. Brown before June 1st, they will incur a $43 million dead cap charge in 2026, which is basically double what they will pay Brown if they don’t trade him. Here’s what Jimmy Kempski wrote in The Philly Voice:
If Brown is traded this offseason before June 1, the Eagles would incur a dead cap charge of $43,515,106. Worded another way, he would count for $43,515,106 on the Eagles’ cap in 2026, while playing for another team. If the Eagles simply kept him, Brown would count for 23,393,497 on their 2026 cap, and, you know, he would be playing for the Eagles. (The dead cap charge would still be $43,515,106 if he’s traded after June 1, but $27,161,609 of it would count toward the 2027 cap.)
Kempski notes that despite the cap charge, Philadelphia’s front office already operates with an expectation that they will pay huge dead cap hits for former players EVERY SEASON. That would be no different if they trade Brown. They basically expected something like this could happen.
Brown has reportedly been requesting a trade for months.
The Eagles would be financially free of Brown by 2027.
It makes sense that the Eagles would trade Brown if a team was willing to give up a pick that could allow Philadelphia to draft his replacement, which is what the Titans attempted to do in 2022 (but they landed Treylon Burks instead). It worked for the Vikings in 2021 when they traded Stefon Diggs and drafted Justin Jefferson.
But why in the world would a GM smart enough to have a job trade a first round pick for a 29-year-old receiver who is owed a lot of money and is known to be a diva?
So a second round pick?
Why would you even trade a second round pick for A.J. Brown? Half of the receivers you can draft in the second round of an average draft class will be far more valuable per dollar than Brown at age 29.
And that’s just age 29. Let’s not forget that you’re also trading for a receiver at age 30, age 31, and age 32.
These are BAD receivers relative to the top receivers in the NFL in 2026.
Age 29 receivers
As I wrote back in 2021, four years ago, turning 29 has not been kind to receivers. I was told by many people “omg you’re so dumb, obviously you’re wrong about all these players and you don’t understand that cooper kupp is going to age so much better than all of these players!!!”
Did Kupp age better than those players? Or was 2021 his last good season?
YOU.
CAN’T.
BE.
A 30 YEAR OLD RECEIVER.
IN TODAY’S NFL.
Not for a lot of money.
The best 29-year-old receivers in 2025:
- Jakobi Meyers, 75 catches for 835 yards (2 teams)
- Deebo Samuel, 72 catches for 727 yards
No other receiver in the NFL who was exactly 29 years old this season had more than 400 yards. Got that? The 29-year-old PLAYER with the most receiving yards was Christian McCaffrey, followed by tight end Juwan Johnson. The receivers were led by Meyers, who got traded, and Samuel, who got traded.
Age 30 receivers
Best 30-year-old receivers in 2025:
- Courtland Sutton, 74 catches for 1,017 yards
- Terry McLaurin, 38 catches for 582 yards
- Kendrick Bourne, 37 catches for 551 yards
The Commanders stupidly caved to public pressure and extended McLaurin before the season. Don’t cave to pressure from fans and media, which these days is mostly made up of fans. Even the people on ESPN are mostly just fans parading as experts.
Age 31 receivers
No 31-year-old receiver had more than 400 yards. Calvin Ridley led the way with 303 yards.
Age 32 receivers
Best 32-year-old receivers in 2025:
- Stefon Diggs, 85 catches for 1,013 yards
- Cooper Kupp, 47 catches for 593 yards
- Mack Hollins, 46 catches for 550 yards
Diggs had a good season in New England as Drake Maye’s number one receiver. He’s good. He’s not great anymore. He’s not a game changer and you wouldn’t trade a second round pick for Diggs. The Patriots only paid him $16.6 million guaranteed as a free agent.
Age 33 receivers
Here is where we finally get to Davante Adams, who a lot of people will claim isn’t overpaid because he caught 14 touchdowns but at many times he has been a liability, most importantly including when it comes to the typical injuries that come with a player over 30.
Best 33-year-old receivers in 2025:
- Davante Adams, 60 catches for 789 yards
- Keenan Allen, 81 catches for 777 yards
Adams has been great at catching touchdowns inside the 4-yard line. He had nine of those! The Rams got a pretty good 2025 cap hit on Adams too as he only accounts for $12 million against the 2025 salary cap. However, the Rams really want to be able to win that Super Bowl now because L.A. must be considering an outright release in 2026 given that Adams is going to be 34 and it’s only going to get harder for him to produce yards and touchdowns and stay healthy in 2026.
The Rams will either pay Adams a $28 million cap hit or cut him to save $14 million with $14 million of savings. That’s $14 million dead cap if he’s released or retires. However, the Rams could also restructure his deal, but that wouldn’t save them any money, it would only reduce his 2026 cap hit.
In either case, Adams—even with 789 yards—is an outlier.
The total case: WR is a YOUNG man’s job
Players over the age of 26 who had over 1,000 yards in a 17-game season:
- Sutton
- Diggs
- DeVonta Smith
- AJ Brown
None of those players cleared 1,000 by more than 17 yards.
Did you really absorb that? Nobody over age 26 had more than 1,017 yards despite a 17-game season and passing being easier than ever. Why not? Teams don’t want to feature and pay one player over the age of 26 when they know that they can get the job done with receivers, tight ends, and backs who are cheaper and younger.
Does A.J. Brown get the message: Nobody wants to put up with a 29-year-old receiver diva.
So while you will hear a ton of rumors about teams trading first round picks for A.J. Brown, don’t buy it. That’s not going to happen. Will teams trade second round picks for Brown? Only a sucker would do that. Would the Eagles even trade Brown for a third round pick? Maybe not.
I would be shocked if the Rams get seriously involved in talks for Brown and that’s in addition to the likelihood that the Rams are not going to play many more games with Davante Adams.
A team spending a long time with one receiver is…old news.
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