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    A.J. Brown Traded to Eagles from Titans; Reportedly Agrees to 4-Year, $100M Contract

    Timothy Rapp@@TRappaRTFeatured Columnist IVApril 29, 2022

    NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JANUARY 22: Wide receiver A.J. Brown #11 of the Tennessee Titans celebrates after catching a second quarter pass against the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Divisional Playoff game at Nissan Stadium on January 22, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
    Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

    The Tennessee Titans have traded star wideout A.J. Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for the No. 18 pick in the 2022 NFL draft, which they used to select Arkansas receiver Treylon Burks, and a third-round pick, the Eagles announced.

    Philadelphia Eagles @Eagles

    We've traded picks 18 and 101 to the Titans for WR A.J. Brown.<a href="https://twitter.com/LifeBrand_AI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LifeBrand_AI</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyEaglesFly?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyEaglesFly</a> <a href="https://t.co/BKTNOL5B8u">pic.twitter.com/BKTNOL5B8u</a>

    According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Eagles are signing Brown to a four-year contract extension worth $100 million with $57 million guaranteed.

    Brown has emerged as one of the better wideouts in football, catching 63 passes for 869 yards and five touchdowns in 2021. By his own standards, it was something of a down season after exceeding 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first two years, though he did miss four games to injury last season. 

    However, the Ole Miss product was a key cog in Tennessee's offense, and it never seemed likely that the Titans would let him hit free agency next offseason, even if the massive extensions of Davante Adams (five years, $141.2 million) and Tyreek Hill (four years, $120 million) set a new market for wide receivers this winter. 

    The only other option would have been to trade him, and that felt unlikely given Brown's age and the Titans' Super Bowl aspirations.

    Dianna Russini @diannaESPN

    The Tennessee Titans are not shopping or taking calls on WR A.J. Brown, per sources. GM Jon Robinson made it clear at the owner's meeting they are currently working towards keeping Brown a Titan for the long term. <br>I'm told this has not changed.

    A.J. Brown Traded to Eagles from Titans; Reportedly Agrees to 4-Year, $100M Contract
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    Things change quickly in the NFL, though, and the Titans will now head into the 2022 season without Brown. Instead, wideout Robert Woods, superstar running back Derrick Henry and quarterback Ryan Tannehill will lead Tennessee's offense, and the Titans will hope their new receiver can contribute right away.

    The Titans finished with the top overall seed in the AFC last season, only to lose in the divisional round, their second straight one-and-done postseason campaign. But Tennessee has also reached the playoffs in three straight seasons and four of the past five, and keeping a player like Brown for the long term would have helped that streak continue. 

    Instead, the Eagles will reap the rewards of acquiring Brown, in yet another shocking move in an offseason full of them.