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Philadelphia Finishes Week One of Free Agency With A.J. Brown Still on the Roster and the Trade Market Still Open
The Eagles received inquiries. They did not move quickly to engage them. Whether that is negotiating posture or organizational conviction will become clear in the next thirty days.
Sunday, March 15, 2026
The A.J. Brown situation in Philadelphia ended its first week without resolution, with sources indicating that the Eagles have received trade inquiries but have not engaged those conversations at the pace teams calling them expected.
Brown, who signed a four-year extension with Philadelphia in 2022 and is under contract through 2029, reportedly communicated his desire for a trade to the organization before free agency opened. The Eagles' public posture — neither confirming nor denying a trade request — remained consistent through the week, with head coach Nick Sirianni saying only that the organization looks forward to working with its players in the offseason program.
Multiple teams have been identified in league circles as having conducted preliminary trade conversations with Philadelphia. Buffalo has been the most persistently mentioned, for reasons that are straightforward: the Bills run an offense that prizes contested-catch receivers who can win at the second level, and Brown is exactly that kind of player. San Francisco, rebuilding its skill position group around Brock Purdy following several receiver departures, has also come up in those conversations.
The Eagles have not signaled urgency. That posture is consistent with how Roseman operates — he rarely moves on his timeline when he believes the asset he holds will retain or appreciate its value. But holding a player who has reported wanting out carries relationship costs that will accumulate the longer the situation is unresolved. Those costs are harder to quantify than draft capital, but they are real.
The NFL Draft on April 23-25 creates a natural deadline. If Philadelphia intends to move Brown, doing so before the draft allows the acquiring team to build the rest of their offseason around their receiving corps with clarity. After the draft, that clarity is harder to achieve. The next three weeks represent the most likely window for a resolution — in either direction.
Sources: "A.J. Brown trade speculation," Pro Football Talk, NBC Sports | "2026 NFL Free Agency Tracker," ESPN | "Eagles' Nick Sirianni on roster," NFL.com
Offtackle Staff Writers