The A.J. Brown Trade Has a Clear Winner, and It's DeVonta Smith
The A.J. Brown saga is finally over. On Monday, June 1, the Philadelphia Eagles officially dealt their star receiver to the New England Patriots in exchange for New England's 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-rounder.
The timing was no surprise. Trading Brown before June 1 would have left the Eagles with a brutal dead-money hit, while moving him after that date makes the financial damage far easier to absorb.
Still, it changes things a lot for both franchises.
Just like that, Drake Maye gets his WR1, and Brown reunites with Mike Vrabel in New England.
And for Philadelphia, the spotlight shifts to DeVonta Smith, who is now clearly the Eagles' top receiving option in a new offense that should feature Jalen Hurts under center more often, according to ESPN.
Smith has already shown he can carry a passing game. Add in the Alabama connection with Hurts, and 2026 suddenly looks like it could be Smith's best season yet.
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While Brown should enjoy a larger target share in New England, Smith now stands to gain as Hurts' undisputed top target.
He is no longer the co-star. He is in the driver's seat, and he has already shown he can handle that role.
Before Brown arrived, Smith set the Eagles' rookie receiving record with 916 yards and five touchdowns in 2021.
Once Brown entered the picture, Smith still produced like a centerpiece, topping 1,000 yards in 2022 and 2023, then adding 1,008 yards in 2025.
Through five seasons, he has 385 catches for 5,019 yards and 31 touchdowns, and he and Brown formed the franchise's first back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving duo.
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Add in the Eagles' new system, and Smith, who is still just 27 years old, could be headed for a massive season.
Under new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, the Eagles are expected to lean more heavily on play-action, bootlegs, and under-center looks, creating easier throwing windows and allowing Hurts to operate with more rhythm instead of relying on the same shotgun-heavy approach.
Hurts has historically looked more comfortable attacking outside the numbers than living over the middle, making a more structured scheme a potentially natural fit for both quarterback and receiver, especially if Smith evolves into the offense's primary chain-mover and red-zone weapon.
And if Smith becomes the true alpha receiver the Eagles envisioned when they selected him No. 10 overall in 2021, the franchise won’t miss a beat.
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This story was originally published June 1, 2026 at 7:47 PM.