At this stage of the NFL offseason, most teams are not doing much, and fans are eagerly awaiting the start of training camp for something exciting to hear about. In the case of the Patriots, that is still the sentiment in New England, with a bit of a twist beforehand involving wide receiver AJ Brown.
The belief is that if the Eagles agree to trade Brown, it will happen after June 1, when the salary cap implications are significantly more in their favor. And all offseason, the Patriots have been the team most connected to getting a deal done. But it wasn't always that way.
There had been talks of the LA Rams getting on the phone about the 4-time Pro Bowler, and although the deal ultimately didn't happen, it was apparently much closer than anyone knew.
According to NFL insider Mike Garafolo, the deal was nearly complete at one point but imploded quickly, and now the Patriots are back at the top of the list for Brown.
"That was really close. It was closer than it got with the Patriots. That was really close. There was one point where, overnight, it sort of died. It was like, 'Late one night, this could be going down by the next morning. You know what, there's too many moving parts here.'"
Luckily for the Patriots and Drake Maye, it didn't happen, but it could've been an absolute disaster had it become official.
Drake Maye was very close to having a grudge against the Rams and Matthew Stafford
The focus of this offseason has been to improve the roster to give Maye the best chance to replicate the success he led the team to last year. And although it ended in a Super Bowl loss, it was beyond impressive for a second-year quarterback surrounded by an offense that was by no means considered stellar.
That's why it makes the most sense for the Patriots to go all in for Brown, and hopefully, they will win the apparent battle for the receiver.
But it didn't always look that way, and even now, there are rumors of more teams inquiring about his availability. Yet had a deal gone through with the Rams, it would've been a nightmare scenario for the Patriots and Maye, who might already be subconsciously harboring some frustration toward the Rams, specifically Matthew Stafford, who won MVP over him last year.
Although he hasn't shown an ounce of that being his mindset, could you blame him? It would make him incredibly human to be frustrated with how the MVP voting went, and then to see the quarterback who beat him win the prize of another WR1 like Brown would be devastating.
The hope is that any deal between the Eagles and Rams fell through long ago, and they won't be a problem over the next few weeks.
The best outcome would be the Patriots acquiring Brown for a fair deal to give Maye the high-caliber playmaker the offense currently lacks. It would give them the best chance of putting together another successful season, and Maye deserves that.
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