The 2026 NFL Draft is less than a week away, and instead of most of the discussion surrounding the Patriots being about which rookie prospects they will be adding to their roster, it continues to revolve around the possibility of trading for wide receiver AJ Brown.
The discussion has taken a bit of a hit in recent days, due to the ongoing allegations involving Mike Vrabel and NFL insider Dianna Russini, as many believe she was the driving force behind the consistent rumors about Brown's availability.
However, where there's smoke, there's fire, and that's not stopping Patriots fans, and even some players, from sending messages to the superstar to come to Foxboro.
The latest to do so is safety Kevin Byard III, who signed with New England in free agency last month and is very familiar with Brown. Other than being friends with him, they also played together under Vrabel in Tennessee, so it's not exactly surprising that he would be advocating for a reunion.
Kevin Byard III doubles down on his desire to see AJ Brown traded to the Patriots
He said as much during a recent appearance on CBS Sports, speaking directly into the camera to Brown about joining him on his new team, one that Brown grew up a fan of, too.
"A.J. Brown, come on to New England buddy." @KevinByard would love to get the gang back together 👀 pic.twitter.com/KlOzxk8wNQ
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) April 15, 2026
Byard is just the latest Patriots player to speak on the matter, and actually, this isn't the first time that the three-time Pro Bowler has stirred up conversation about Brown since he signed his contract with the team.
Not long after his signing was announced, Byard posted photos on social media of himself training with Brown this offseason. It didn't feel like a coincidence and was surely meant to create conversation, just as he accomplished again with his latest comments.
He also spoke to NFL insider Jordan Schultz and shared his hope that the notification he got during the interview was the official announcement that Brown was on the move to the Patriots.
Of course, Brown doesn't have much say in the matter, since the Eagles are ultimately in charge of deciding whether he's traded or not. However, there is a lot of chatter suggesting that the receiver will have some input on where he goes if they do decide to move him, and the Patriots are one of the teams he is allegedly good to go to.
Hopefully, that's true, and based on everything we've seen, there's no reason to believe it isn't. But we'll just have to wait and see if a trade actually happens. It's unlikely to happen during next week's draft, with most believing nothing will be done until after June 1, so we have a while to wait it out and continue hearing more and more rumors about it.
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