Breer: Patriots ‘inquired’ about AJ Brown trade to Eagles originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver AJ Brown sent social media into a frenzy on Thursday afternoon after changing his profile picture to a photo of New England Patriots legend Tom Brady, with many fans seeing the update from profile as a possible hint that he could be on the move.
After noticing the controversy created by a simple profile photo change, Brown cleared the air with a post on X, stating that he changed his photo after being motivated by Brady’s dominant career, which he was reminded of after recently watching The Dynasty documentary on Apple TV+. Brown also notably grew up as a Patriots fan.
“TB12 is my favorite player of all time,” Brown wrote in the post, which he has since deleted. “I watched Dynasty and it brought back some memories from my childhood.
“Go see what he did in 2015 when he was questioned/disrespected. Yes, I see the disrespect. Motivated… yes. That’s it. I didn’t think that changing my pfp (profile picture) to the greatest QB of all time would cause controversy.”
Patriots fans shouldn’t be excited about Brown’s profile photo change.
Albert Breer from Sports Illustrated reported Thursday on NBC Sports Boston’s Arbella Early Editionwhich you can watch in the video player above, the Patriots did in fact inquire about the Pro Bowl receiver but were told he was unavailable.
“Philadelphia has received inquiries about AJ Brown,” Breer said, later confirming that the Patriots were one of the inquiring teams. “They shut them all down and told other teams he wasn’t available.”
The Patriots had a chance to draft Brown in 2019, but decided to select Arizona State wide receiver N’Keal Harry with the last pick in the first round. The Titans ended up taking Brown in the second round. Tennessee traded him to the Eagles in 2022.
Last October, a 2020 interview resurfaced where Brown claimed to have cried when the Patriots passed on him in the draft in favor of Harry.
“I dropped everyone off and went home,” Brown said. “I went into the closet and cried a lot.”
The 26-year-old star recorded a career-high 106 receptions for 1,456 yards and seven touchdowns in 17 games with the Eagles.
Check out more from Breer in the YouTube video below.
