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Lifting the A.J. Brown Moratorium to Look at Prediction Market Trade Destinations
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We’ve had an A.J. Brown moratorium in place at Crossing Broad for a long time now. The gist is that the chatter surrounding WR1 has been so nauseating and toxic and pointless that it makes us want to jump head-first off the Walt Whitman Bridge into a frozen Delaware River. For that reason, we did not entertain trade speculation and various reporting on disgruntled-ness, but would certainly post if the guy caught a sideline bomb or alligator-armed a playoff pass.
However, we’ll cautiously lift the moratorium to see what Kalshi is saying about possible destinations:
Note that the market is “A.J. Brown’s next team,” the rule explained here:
“If A.J. Brown’s next team is Stays with Philadelphia or Retires before Dec 1, 2026, then the market resolves to Yes. Outcome verified from ESPN and Fox Sports.”
New York Giants at 24% (edit – has dropped now) makes little sense on the surface, because the Birds wouldn’t make an in-division trade of this significance, not unless Howie felt like he was truly fleecing the G Men, Commies, or Cowgirls. But to see those bums second on the list is a little disturbing.
Denver, New England, and Buffalo feel realistic. Bo Nix and Josh Allen need a legit WR1 to throw the ball to. Drake Maye needs an offensive line that isn’t going to get him killed, but obviously A.J. played for Mike Vrabel, who is back in Foxborough. All three of those AFC teams could use a slam dunk trade for a bona fide receiver to get over the hump.
If you want to trade on the Eagles to keep A.J. in 2026, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with the salary cap implications of a trade.
Jason Fitzgerald at Over the Cap laid out some details in a Tuesday post:
Trading Brown would be a viable option for the Eagles if they could find a trade partner.
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The cost to trade Brown on the cap prior to June 2nd would be $48.939 million. That would be a loss of $25.5 million in cap room for the team. They would also get a $5.5 million cap credit in 2027. I would imagine in a trade this year they would get a draft pick in 2026. I don’t think you could rule this out but I think the team would try to wait things out until the summer.
If the team waited until the summer to make a trade the post June 1 rules would be in effect. The team would be looking at $22.09 million in dead money this year and $21.6 million in dead money in 2027(that number is the net number as the Eagles will receive a cap credit for $5.5 million in 2027)
It’s a big cap hit to lose a great player. Howie would need to bring back a nice return to make A.J.’s departure palatable. A lot is riding on how much the addition of Sean Mannion and Josh Grizzard has affected things behind the scenes. Is A.J. happy with the changes on the offensive staff? What about Jalen Hurts? We have no clue at this point in time, but trading “yes” at 40% returns $25 for a $10 wager. If you’re bullish on A.J. sticking around and think the rumors are bullshit, this is a good price to get in on.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com