00:00On with us right now on 93.7 WEI is ESPN.
00:05He's a man who knows everything.
00:06He's an insider.
00:08He's a senior NFL reporter for ESPN, Mr. Jeremy Fowler.
00:11What a good day to have him on.
00:12Jeremy, did this all go down kind of the way that you thought it was going to?
00:18It went down close to exactly how I thought it would,
00:21and it's great to be with you.
00:22Yeah, you too.
00:22We knew that the Eagles wanted a first-round pick.
00:25Originally, they wanted a first-round pick and a lot more,
00:28but that was back around free agency.
00:30Then the market softened.
00:32There were some teams that checked in on it,
00:34but there was never a huge market.
00:36I think the Eagles are still pretty happy with what they got,
00:39which is the first-round pick in 2028.
00:41I was checking yesterday and this morning.
00:44Teams I talked to around the league thought that that's what it would be,
00:47and then I believe they get the fifth-round pick.
00:50Not too bad, but for the Patriots, they are all in right now.
00:55They're going for it, similar to the Rams.
00:56They just did that Miles Garrett trade.
00:58I see New England in a similar boat.
01:00They went to the Super Bowl.
01:01They feel like they could be better this year.
01:04A.J. Brown solves a lot, even though he's going to be 29,
01:07and maybe he's a half-step slower on paper,
01:09but he is a guy who rolls coverage.
01:13That's why receivers get paid.
01:15If you can roll coverage, draw double teams, make contested catches,
01:20you make a huge difference.
01:23For that reason, it's a monumental trade for New England on a monumental day.
01:28Jeremy, why didn't more teams want A.J. Brown?
01:34Well, I think part of it was the asking price.
01:38Part of it was the fact that it kind of was clear in league circles
01:42that New England and Philadelphia were somewhat down the road.
01:45You know, I think at the end here, like, New England probably got a little squirmy
01:49and figured, hey, like, you know, we're not overly eager to give up this first-round pick.
01:54We'll do it if we have to, you know.
01:56Maybe they were hoping another team would get involved.
01:58Or the Patriots really could have drug this out if they wanted to
02:01and used their leverage a little more.
02:03But the fact that they had been talking about this for a while,
02:06other teams kind of knew that New England was in play.
02:09And if they got involved, they'd either be sort of used a little bit, potentially,
02:13or it would just be too costly to try to go over the top on New England,
02:18which was pretty motivated to get it done because of the Mike Grable connection.
02:21So, you know, I saw the Chiefs out there.
02:24I was told throughout that that was a non-starter for them.
02:28You know, the Rams inquired.
02:29I think the Rams' interest back in March was real, but it was pretty quick.
02:34You know, they would have had to do something with Devontae Adams.
02:36I mean, I guess there's a world where A.J. Brown, Puka, and Devontae
02:40could have coexisted together, but they opted not to do that.
02:43And then, like, when I checked on it last week, they just weren't really involved.
02:47And now we know they were trying to do the Miles Garrett trade.
02:49So there just wasn't a natural team that was thin enough at receiver to be desperate
02:53and willing enough to jump out.
02:56And, you know, Brown had some issues last year.
02:58It wasn't coming off his best season.
03:00He saw some of the antics on the sideline.
03:02Like, all that wasn't ideal, but Mike Grable's the perfect complement to that
03:07with his past relationship with A.J.
03:09He can reach him.
03:10Jeremy, what do you think, if anything, happened today with the negotiations
03:13with New England and Philly?
03:14Was it pretty much all?
03:15Was the framework done for months?
03:16Was there any haggling today, or how did it go?
03:21Well, you know, my understanding is that it was kind of a cross-the-t, dot-the-i situation.
03:26You know, I do think they were going over some of the deal in the final hours, yes.
03:33I didn't sense it was done over the weekend as I was reporting for SportsCenter,
03:36but I do think that that first-round pick concept, the 20-28-1,
03:41was sort of the catalyst for all this.
03:43You can work around that, you know.
03:45But Philly was pretty dead set on getting that.
03:47I think originally they wanted a first and a second-round pick for A.J.
03:51That was sort of the whisper that was going around around free agency,
03:54and they were probably never getting that.
03:57But at least if they had the one bird in hand that New England felt somewhat comfortable giving,
04:02you could do the rest.
04:03So I'm not sure if the fifth-round pick was decided today or not,
04:06but, you know, I think they at least were able to work on that in the final days and hours
04:11to just solidify it.
04:12And then a lot of it's like just waiting until 4 p.m. because of the situation with the June
04:171st
04:17and being able to spread the salary cap over two years instead of one.
04:21Jeremy, is A.J. expecting a deal restructure of any kind?
04:27I have not heard that yet.
04:28So he's due, I want to say, what, $30 million around there over the next few years?
04:33I think it's $32 million on average, yeah.
04:35I think I'd read somewhere $32 million.
04:38Yeah, I want to say last I checked it was somewhere around $30 million in cash this year,
04:42which, you know, that's pretty good.
04:44I mean, I haven't heard anything about a restructuring or a reworking right now.
04:49And, you know, the Eagles did this deal very prematurely when they originally re-upped A.J.
04:54on his third contract, his third career deal.
04:57They did that quite early in his second deal.
05:00So he's got years out that the Patriots could play with
05:04if they want to try to restructure this thing.
05:07So we'll see.
05:08But, you know, he definitely ain't taking a discount, that's for sure.
05:10So it's a matter of, like, do they want to, you know, kind of redo this,
05:14maybe take a year off?
05:16But I don't know why they would want to do that.
05:18So I have not heard any momentum on a restructured or reworked contract.
05:22Jeremy, how surprised are you that the Pats would give up a first?
05:25I mean, we've seen the Rams do this a lot, but it's pretty unheard of here,
05:29at least, you know, in the old era.
05:31Now it's a new dynamic with Elliott Wolfe and company.
05:34How surprised are you or are other teams that they're willing to go this far?
05:39Yeah, I'm not too surprised because of the relationship.
05:43Most situations in the NFL, you go back to relationships.
05:46Players like to sign, players they've had that they trust, that they've had success with.
05:51And so the A.J. Brown-Mike-Vrabel marriage was a nice, you know,
05:55boiling point or catalyst for all this to get done.
05:58And just talking to people over the last week or so,
06:01I just really sense New England feels like they can jump out here
06:05and be really good again, you know.
06:07They feel like they got the team to do it.
06:09The only position they feel like they're thin at right now is edge rusher.
06:12And that's not off my radar either to do another deal
06:15or to add an edge rusher at some point.
06:17We'll see.
06:18I don't know.
06:18I hope it might be a little rich for them since they already gave up draft capital
06:21for A.J. Brown.
06:22But I could see it.
06:24So they just feel like they're there.
06:26You know, they watch the Super Bowl where they run a whole lot of guys getting open.
06:29You know, Stephon Diggs is now out.
06:31And even though he was productive last year, more of a possession guy.
06:35You know, A.J. Brown for his warts is just –
06:38he's on the short list of guys that can go downfield, win 50-50 matchups.
06:45He's great at contested catches.
06:47He's probably the very best at that.
06:48And we know Drake May throws a great deep ball.
06:50So I think you're going to see a lot of that.
06:52And you're going to see safeties helping on him.
06:54And that just changes the math for your offense,
06:57at least for a year or two until he starts to decline.
07:00But right now you still have that in place.
07:02And, look, he's going to be motivated coming out of last year, right?
07:05He wanted a new offense and a new change, and he got it.
07:08No question.
07:09No question.
07:10We're talking to ESPN senior NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler.
07:12Jeremy, you just mentioned edge rusher and the Patriots potentially looking around.
07:17Any names that you've heard being mentioned as far as the Patriots and an edge rusher?
07:24Well, you know, Josh Sweat is out there a little bit.
07:27You know, Kayvon Thibodeau I think would be a fit.
07:31The Giants aren't really trying to trade him right now,
07:33but at least before the draft they looked into it.
07:36It would probably require like a second-round pick,
07:38maybe a quality third-round pick to get him to make the Giants at least even reconsider it
07:43because right now I think they're rolling with it.
07:45But those are names that come to mind.
07:47I'm just saying it wouldn't shock me if the team tried to address that position now
07:51as a final piece before week one.
07:53Well, this is going to be an unprecedented offseason for the Patriots as far as money
07:59because, I mean, we're already looking at this A.J. Brown move that just happened.
08:03On top of that, you've got Christian Gonzalez who is holding out right now,
08:08and there's a question as to whether or not the Patriots are going to set the market with him.
08:13I mean, the edge rusher would just make things even more expensive.
08:15So what are you hearing about Christian Gonzalez and the amount of money that you believe that he's asking for
08:21and what you believe is going to happen eventually?
08:26Well, this one's fascinating because it's not just about Christian Gonzalez.
08:29It's about what's going on around him.
08:32So Seattle wants to re-sign Devin Witherspoon, who's another star cornerback, right?
08:37He was a key piece to their Super Bowl run.
08:40So Devin Witherspoon and Christian Gonzalez have the same agents.
08:44And so they're in a position to reset the market with both players.
08:49Whoever gets done first, I suspect, will be above Trent McDuffie, who's now number one,
08:54I believe, at a little over $30 million a year.
08:57Christian Gonzalez is regarded, at least in league circles and coaches I talk to,
09:04as a little higher than some of those guys even, like as far as his ability to play man coverage
09:09on an island is really, really rare.
09:12So my point is, does Witherspoon get done first and then Gonzalez comes over the top?
09:19How do they do that?
09:20So, like, it's worth keeping an eye on Seattle.
09:23Can Seattle get that done?
09:25And then Gonzalez might have a clearer path to get done.
09:28But right now it looks like the strategy is to wait on both, marinate this thing a little bit,
09:34and see who comes out with a big deal.
09:36Wow.
09:37I mean, we're not used to this as Patriots fans, seeing them dole out this kind of money.
09:41It is very, very strange.
09:43But real quick before we let you go, just one last question.
09:45Because, you know, once A.J. Brown was here, all of a sudden we started getting texts and calls.
09:50It's because now it's an embarrassment of riches.
09:52People are saying, well, can you get Stefan Diggs back as well?
09:56Well, is there any chance that the Patriots would think about potentially bringing Stefan Diggs back in as well
10:03if he's having a hard time finding a team?
10:08Well, I'm not sure on that.
10:10I haven't heard anything firm and fast on that, but I do know they were happy with the relationship last
10:15year.
10:15They felt like he had a good year for them.
10:17There were no major hiccups, you know.
10:19I know he's got the court cases.
10:20It seems like that will all get worked out or has been.
10:23So, for those reasons, I wouldn't take it off the table.
10:27I just haven't heard anything hard and fast on that.
10:29So, you know, I think Kyle Williams they want to get more involved to.
10:33They really like him.
10:34He just didn't have a lot of opportunities.
10:36That's a guy I think would be ascending in that offense.
10:39Awesome.
10:40Well, Jeremy Fowler, we really appreciate you coming on with us,
10:42especially on essentially last minute on a day like today.
10:46Yeah, thank you.
10:46We really appreciate it.
10:47Thank you so much, Jeremy, for coming on.
10:49Anytime, guys.
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