NFL Offseason Check-In: Eagles Already Prepared for Life Without WR A.J. Brown

[Fox Sports NFL]

Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman has repeated countless times — recently with an ironic smirk — that "A.J. Brown is an Eagle." He has said it so often at press conferences that, sometimes, he’ll say it before anyone has time to ask a question about the disgruntled star receiver. The question is whether Brown will get traded. And at this point, everyone knows what Roseman's answer really means: A.J. Brown won’t be an Eagle for long. All reports indicate he’s going to be a New England Patriot in a deal that sends a 2028 first-round pick to Philadelphia. (That deal will come after June 1 so the Eagles can split his dead-cap charge over two years.) The one thing the Eagles have wisely avoided is trying to replace Brown in a one-for-one situation. This is where the Tennessee Titans went wrong, attempting to draft and develop Treylon Burks into their next Brown. And, well, that did not go well. Roseman clearly wants to replace Brown in the aggregate. ("The what?" Think about the famous Moneyball scene.) Preparations are already underway. In the draft, the Eagles picked two pass-catchers in the top 54 picks. These two selections have provided clues about Philly's new offensive vision. So let's get to the first one: Makai Lemon. The Eagles traded up in Round 1 to No. 20 to make sure they landed the USC All-American receiver. Roseman said they thought Lemon would be off the board much earlier, which was why the Eagles had increased urgency to snag him. "There’s a lot to like about him," Roseman said after the first round. "Has the ability to separate in man coverage. He can play in the slot. He can play outside. Physical player. Really good with the ball in his hands. Really good hands. Good in zone coverage — has really good instincts." Lemon has every tool to be one of the best slot receivers in the NFL. His natural comparison is Detroit Lions All-Pro Amon-Ra St. Brown, who upends the idea that a slot receiver can’t be the No. 1 option. Given the total absence of top-flight receivers (and the fact that Roseman liked Lemon enough to trade up for him), Lemon will likely get 100 targets next year. On Day 2 of the draft, the Eagles took Vanderbilt All-American Eli Stowers at 54th overall. The slender-framed tight end was one of the best athletes in the draft and should have a massive impact on the passing game. And even though the Eagles still have veteran Dallas Goedert, I’d expect that the two tight ends will enter a timeshare immediately. Roseman shopped Goedert on the trade market earlier this offseason. And on draft night, he made his feelings for Stowers clear. The GM, right before telling Stowers that he’d be the team’s second-round pick, asked the youngster if he could name any of the tight ends that Roseman had previously taken in Round 2. "We’ve got a pretty good history of selecting tight ends in the second round. Can you name any of them?" Roseman said in a video posted on Vanderbilt’s socials. "We’ve got the one we’ve got right here [Goedert]. We got Zach Ertz in the second round. How about we pick you right here and add you to that legacy?" Given Goedert’s size (6-foot-5, 255 pounds), he will still prove useful in a pass-catcher group that’s largely devoid of bulk. Devonta Smith, the team’s soon-to-be promoted WR1, is dubbed the "Slim Reaper" for a reason, after all. Lemon is 190 pounds. Stowers is 240 pounds. It’s not a big group. Saquon Barkley, who had a down year compared to his historic 2024 performance, will (hopefully for Philly) get back to being Saquon. And his physicality should help. What’s more, the team’s backup, Tank Bigsby, runs with intensity to match his nickname. So there’s your aggregate sum. Some returning pieces. Some new pieces. Plenty of compelling skill sets. But there’s no doubt: It’s an incomplete picture. How will new OC Sean Mannion build this offense? How will he make it better than the sum of its parts? (Can he?) The beauty is that the Eagles have Jalen Hurts, who is one of the more versatile quarterbacks in the NFL. It seems the public is down on Hurts, particularly after an ESPN exposé that highlighted his intense leadership style and strong-willed opinions. But when you look at his record, Hurts remains a QB who has a 69.5 winning percentage, ninth best all time. And Hurts has done that despite having a new OC in every single season of his career. Every one! That’s success unlike anything in recent memory — not to mention he has a Super Bowl ring. Stylistically, he’ll adapt. He always does. Mannion came from the Green Bay Packers, with Matt LaFleur at the helm. But Mannion has been coaching only since 2024. He was a longtime backup quarterback who spent two years under Rams coach Sean McVay, three-ish seasons under Mike Zimmer (with the Vikings), and one year under Kevin O’Connell. That’s a lot of different offshoots of the Shanahan scheme. Interestingly enough, we’ve been seeing most of those coaches prioritize size and tight end bulk. Teams are going toward the trendy schematic wrinkle of two- and three-tight end sets. In turn, teams are getting bigger and more physical. That was what the Eagles were when they made a run two years ago. But they’re straying from that style when you look at their personnel. They look more like the Seahawks under Klint Kubiak or the Rams from 2023, when they combined star receivers Cooper Kupp and rookie Puka Nacua. That’s roughly what I anticipate from Philly — a powerful run game and a play-action passing game. That will help Hurts feel more comfortable in a high-volume passing attack, because his pass-catchers can dominate horizontally. And Brown can head to New England where he and Drake Maye can do whatever it is that Josh McDaniels would like to do next. Even with uncertainty and drama swirling, Philly looks ready to take on the challenge of replacing one of the league's best receivers.

Continue reading...