After weeks of misery, Patriots fans may finally get the news they’ve waited for

It’s been a brutal few weeks for Boston sports fans, with each of the four major teams providing their own respective kick in the chops. 

The Bruins and Celtics were both eliminated in the first round of the playoffs over the weekend in painful fashion. The Bruins lost three of their four overall games to the Sabres on home ice. The Celtics? They blew a 3-1 series lead to the seventh-seed 76ers, and were in danger of getting blown out of their own building in Game 7 before mounting a late rally that fell short.

The Red Sox currently sit dead-last in the AL East and recently fired manager Alex Cora along with five of his top staff members. Oh, and the Patriots, fresh off a whirlwind run to the Super Bowl that has fans fully bought in again, have dominated headlines in the worst way imaginable — in the tabloids.

Boston sports fans is due for a win, and per Adam Schefter, the Patriots are all but guaranteed to deliver one in about a month’s time.

In his regular appearance on The Pat McAfee show on Monday morning, Schefter made the Patriots’ rumored trade with the Philadelphia Eagles for A.J. Brown seem like a done deal. He even spoke on the expected compensation heading back to Philly in a move that would happen after June 1 to help mitigate accelerated dead-money on Philadelphia’s 2026 salary cap.

“Well I think he knows where his future is headed at this moment, and it will be a matter of the Patriots and the Eagles getting together to basically process the trade, finalize the trade, make sure it happens. But, again, there’s nothing that has transpired here, despite all the events in New England, that has deterred this trade from coming off. I still think that it’s on track. I still think that it’s going to happen. I still think it will involve a future (first round pick), likely a 2028 first-round draft pick. I still think all of these elements are in place, and I still think that once we get to June that these two sides will get together and complete a trade that will send A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots.”

All signs point to the Patriots finally making their big offseason move

Schefter’s expectation that the Patriots’ first-round draft pick in 2028 would be the major piece going back to Philadelphia in a trade for Brown actually makes perfect sense for both sides.

While it’s rare for a draft pick that’s still two years away to be the centerpiece of an NFL deal, the Eagles and GM Howie Roseman are the rare exception. The Eagles are one of the most efficient teams in football at developing drafted players into startable assets.

The only projected offensive starters on the Eagles’ current depth chart that weren’t originally drafted by the team are Brown and running back Saquon Barkley. It’s a similar situation on defense with Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Quinyon Mitchell, and Cooper DeJean forming a rock-solid core, with each of those players drafted within the last five years.

Roseman’s hit rate provides him with a luxury few general managers in the NFL have: job security. The Eagles can justify selling a major piece like Brown for a 2028 first-round pick because of their solid organizational structure and wealth of young talent on the roster.

For the Patriots, the 2028 first-rounder was always the best compromise, since this year’s original pick at No. 31 overall was essentially off the table due to Brown’s contract. According to Over the Cap, moving Brown during the draft or anytime prior to June 1 would have triggered a $43.4 million dead-cap charge. The Eagles would essentially be giving up their best receiver while eating a number nearly double that of his current $23.4 million cap hit.

Could Roseman and the Eagles have made the cap work? Of course. This is the NFL salary cap we’re talking about. But by playing ball on the Eagles’ preferred timeline, New England gained a clear bargaining chip. More specifically — the Patriots gained leverage in keeping their first-round pick in 2027 out of the discussion.

The Eagles have every right to ask for a first-round pick in a package for Brown, seeing what the Denver Broncos recently gave up to acquire Jaylen Waddle. In the scenario that Schefter confidently laid out, the Eagles get their pick, with the Patriots in turn getting a slight discount, as a 2028 first-rounder would be more comparable on the value chart to a 2027 second-rounder in a trade made this summer.

It’s felt safe for fans to start pre-ordering those No. 11 A.J. Brown Patriots jerseys for a while now. Schefter’s latest report all but sealed the deal — and that’s a beautiful thing after what has been a month to forget in Boston sports. June can't arrive soon enough.

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