A.J. Brown Breaks Silence on “Growing Apart” From Jalen Hurts & Eagles Trade

In a surprise to absolutely no one who followed the NFL for the past few months, the Eagles traded disgruntled wide receiver A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots for a first-round pick in 2028 and a fifth-round pick in 2029.

Along the way, Brown’s story included a broken friendship, allegations of cheating and collusion to support a trade, and salty Eagles fans who believed he had “quit” on the team.

Brown is considered, statistically at least, to be the greatest wide receiver the team has ever had. In his four seasons with the team, Brown had 329 receptions, 5,034 receiving yards, and 32 receiving touchdowns.

He was a three-time NFL Pro Bowler and reached the Super Bowl twice, winning Super Bowl LIX with the Eagles in 2025. After three years with the Tennesse Titans, Brown joined the Eagles on Jalen Hurts’ recommendation, as the two were best friends in their college years.

But over the past two seasons, Brown began to show signs of dissatisfaction with the squad. He once read a book on the sidelines and sent out a series of cryptic tweets last season when the Eagles struggled to maintain championship form with new offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. Patullo was let go after the season.

The Brown trade also involved reporting from reporter Diana Russini of The Athletic, who wrote numerous stories about it. She resigned after allegations of an affair with New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel. The two were photographed during NFL meetings in March at a resort two hours from Phoenix, where the meetings took place.

Brown’s friendship with Hurts was dissected and debated more than any other friendship in sports history. For OG NBA fans, it brings to mind the public rift between Lakers superstar Magic Johnson and Detroit Pistons legend Isaiah Thomas, for which Johnson publicly and tearfully apologized to Thomas years later.

Now that the trade has been finalized, Brown shared his side of the story with NBC’s Maria Taylor on the podcast 7PM In Brooklyn.

“We’re not as close as we once were. Nothing happened, people just grow apart,” Brown told Taylor. “Nothing happened between me and him, or our families, wives, anything. Nothing like that ever happened. Life happens, and you just look up sometimes, and you just, you find yourself drifting away, and that’s fine. And I think both parties accepted that.”

Brown said during the Eagles’ first Super Bowl season that the team was in a “flow state” and that everything came easily. He said the second Super Bowl was “a great team,” adding that the core guys were inspirational and that the results speak for themselves.

But after that year, things got funkier. The Eagles struggled last season, and Brown drew some ire in Philadelphia for a series of tweets that were deemed to be detrimental to team chemistry. His Twitter account is now deactivated.

While he avoided throwing widely criticized offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo under the bus, Brown said that the team was “pressing” during his last season, and they didn’t handle the pressure well. He included himself.

“Not every moment, I can say I handled the best way. I was wrong,” he said about his social media posts. “But with my teammates, I feel like I handled things correctly. We had tough conversations, we had face-to-face conversations, and we talked, and we pushed each other, and we didn’t really care who was uncomfortable.”

He added, “In any locker room, there’s that one guy who pushes teammates and holds people accountable. And that was me. And I didn’t mind being viewed as whatever picture was painted because my teammates knew I had their back.”

Brown says he took time to grieve his tenure with the Eagles in the last week or so, and of course, he recently married his longtime love, Kelsey Riley. Hurts did not attend.

Brown says he learned some imporant lessons in his time with the team.

“Telling the truth out of season is worse than a lie,” Brown said. “And not everything needs to be said even if I feel it’s best…so I learned that.”

On Hurts’ part, while he didn’t provide any specifics about his current relationship with Brown, he told reporters at a recent press conference during OTAs, “Nothing’s changed since we last spoke at the end of the season. We’re really good, and I saw how beautiful the pictures came out at his wedding.”

He added that he’s “very happy for him, and his wife and his family. It’s a beautiful thing to step into the covenant, so I was very excited and congratulatory towards that.”

After taking a sip of water and then joking about the timing, Hurts said, “Obviously, it’s been a lingering thing [trade speculation], but nothing can replace all of the greatness that we achieved together.”

The Eagles said goodbye to Brown with a highlight reel of his greatest moments.

See social media’s reaction to the former teammates’ relationship below.