Just hours before the Patriots could finally make the trade for AJ Brown official, the Rams stole the show with a massive trade of their own, continuing their mindset of not caring about first-round picks by sending next year's first-rounder to the Browns for future Hall of Famer Myles Garrett.
It officially became the biggest trade in recent memory, as Garrett is coming off a season that made league history by recording 23 sacks and 33 tackles for a loss. Not only was he named First-Team All-Pro, but he also won Defensive Player of the Year for the second time.
They have gone all-in for another Super Bowl run, with Matthew Stafford nearing the end of his career, and they were planning on doing that with a trade for Brown. Fortunately, this means they are out on that, but the trade for Garrett means something even bigger for the future of their team, according to NFL insiders.
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler revealed that the Rams don't appear all that interested in keeping their young stars, including receiver Puka Nacua, which might give the Patriots a massive opportunity to sign the superstar next offseason and pair him with Brown.
The Patriots could finally get a young explosive receiver to put their offense over the top
If Brown wasn't going to be a realistic option for the Patriots this offseason, there was a lot of chatter about who else they could go after instead, and Nacua was a name brought to the table.
Although there wasn't any indication that the Rams were willing to move on from him, and instead they looked ready to trade Davante Adams, the latest reporting suggests they might be willing to let him go now, since they don't appear all that invested in keeping their young talent around for the long haul.
That is a massive mistake for the future of the Rams, particularly with Stafford's career closer to being over than ever. They'll need to set up their next franchise quarterback to be successful, and not re-signing young players like Nacua does the complete opposite.
But that's where the Patriots can slide in and take advantage of that mistake. Imagine how incredible an offense they could have with Brown and Nacua as the top receiving targets for Drake Maye.
If that doesn't make them a legitimate threat in the AFC, it's difficult to say what would be. It would almost certainly put them on the radar across the league, no matter what they accomplish in 2026. and set Maye up for superstardom sooner rather than later.
At the very least, the Patriots would have every reason to put a deal on the table and give their franchise quarterback the best possible roster to work with for years to come. We've seen how well that has worked for a QB like Joe Burrow, who has Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, so why not recreate that with Brown and Nacua?
We'll have to be patient to see if this is something the Patriots will actually pounce on, but it could be worth the wait.
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