It would be fair to say that the 2026 offseason has been hijacked by the rumors connecting the New England Patriots to a trade for Eagles' wide receiver AJ Brown, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight for the chatter.
In fact, the assumption that there is a handshake agreement in place became the most discussed topic in the NFL last week, after photos of Brown working out with the team's latest free agent signing, Kevin Byard III, were posted online. The conspiracy theories came out of the woodwork, and they didn't appear to be too far off from the potential truth.
The problem is that the latest intel from NFL insider, Adam Schefter, debunks it all. He said as much during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show on Monday, but it surely won't stop the ongoing debate about Brown's future.
"A lot of people have connected the Patriots to AJ Brown and that's a logical landing spot..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 23, 2026
There's no handshake agreement between the two sides to get AJ Brown to New England despite the rumors" ~ @AdamSchefter #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/dE1tC7y9J3
While this is certainly far from what Patriots fans want to hear about a possible trade, it's not far from what someone in Schefter's shoes would have to say, or, at the very least, be told what to say.
AJ Brown is not officially, nor unofficially, on his way to New England just yet
Although a handshake agreement between the Patriots and Eagles would be frowned upon, it's not something that teams across the league don't engage in. So it wouldn't be at all surprising if that were the reality of the situation involving Brown, and Schefter just doesn't know it, or isn't allowed to say it.
We won't really know until a trade is officially announced, and that is unlikely to happen until after June 1, when the Eagles save a lot in dead cap by trading Brown.
That means Patriots and Eagles fans will have to be patient on the matter, and, unfortunately, it means hearing about a possible trade for another two months. And even then, if a trade isn't agreed upon, it will become about whether it should have been done and what this means for Brown's future in Philadelphia.
For the Patriots, there would be a lot of questions about the future of their receiving corps, since that would mean they only signed Romeo Doubs in free agency and maybe selected a receiver in the draft. That's far from the upgrades the offense needed this offseason, and far from what Drake Maye deserves.
So the entire debate would then become a different conversation, and that's not something anyone wants to even think about right now.