A.J. Brown Trade Rumors Discussed by Patriots' Kevin Byard Amid Buzz Around Eagles Star

New England Patriots safety Kevin Byard is no different from NFL fans when it comes to a prospective trade for Philadelphia Eagles star A.J. Brown.

Byard said Tuesday a reunion with Brown would be "awesome," but he doesn't have any insight into the machinations behind the scenes:

The Patriots and Eagles remain in a holding pattern, likely for a few more weeks.

After June 1, dealing Brown becomes much less financially cumbersome for Philly. Doing it now would trigger a $43.5 million dead cap hit and remove $20 million from the team's salary cap space. Waiting until the date passes would actually save the Eagles $7 million and spread the dead money across 2026 and 2027.

As a result, everybody seems to know how this will end yet has to let the process play out.

In discussing the Philadelphia offense, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler purposefully called DeVonta Smith the "new No. 1" target in the passing game. Brown, for his part, might already be looking at some real estate in Boston.

As much as this feels like a fait accompli, all of the involved parties are still refusing to tip their hands, lest they cede any leverage at the eleventh hour. The Patriots, even if they're the only logical landing spot at this point, don't want to overpay for Brown, while the Eagles want to maximize their return on a player who has one foot out the door.