All of the speculation about whether the Patriots would indeed trade for AJ Brown can finally be put to rest now, since the receiver is officially on the roster for the 2026 season. It is a massive hurdle that the team jumped through to give the offense a massive upgrade, but there is still more work to be done that isn't getting talked about as much.
Part of that is arguably the receiving corps, as many don't view the group as a deep roster beyond Brown and Romeo Doubs. It has had a lot of fans dreaming of the return of Stefon Diggs, who was set to be under contract this upcoming season, but was released ahead of free agency earlier this year.
There have been rumblings about his potential return, with plenty of clues from the team and Diggs himself suggesting it might be imminent.
The trade for Brown was thought to put that idea to an end, yet 98.5's The Sports Hub's own Scott Zolak is hinting at something massive being right around the corner, and most fans believe he was discussing Diggs without saying his name.
It would be another massive move by Eliot Wolf, who is clearly hoping to replicate the team's 2025, just with a better ending.
Scott Zolak gets Patriots fans riled up about a potentially massive signing after the AJ Brown trade
Because the Patriots still have the cap space to bring him in, there's a chance the information Zolak seems to be hinting at could be true. But until a signing happens, in New England or elsewhere, we won't know definitively.
Who could @scottzolak be texting? 🤨 🤨 @ZoandBertrand @Tim_McKone @TMorgan985 @RyanMacGarvin @charrlottehill7 pic.twitter.com/L6YDVhUrFU
— 98.5 The Sports Hub (@985TheSportsHub) June 3, 2026
Maybe fans are looking too much into what Zolak was (or wasn't) saying, but considering the timing and the countless rumors about Diggs' eventual return, with Kyle Williams' decision not to switch to jersey No. 8 being the latest example, it's hard to overlook the massive chance that the former quarterback is referring to the receiver's return.
It would be a significant boost to an already significantly upgraded group from the end of last season and would show complete faith in the higher-ups for the team's future.
Some may call last year's Super Bowl run a fluke, but teams don't just make it to the Championship game by accident, and they certainly aren't getting there without an MVP-caliber quarterback like Drake Maye, so giving him an even better group to work with raises the bar of what they can accomplish this fall.
Adding Diggs would put them over the top and would send an unmistakable message to the rest of the league that they shouldn't overlook what the Patriots can do.
We'll have to see if that happens soon, or if it's just a bunch of smoke to get people excited about something that's not going to happen. No matter what, there are a lot of things to be excited about for the Patriots' future, and that's a good place to be in.
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