FOXBOROUGH - Mike Vrabel has heard that some (me included) think the Patriots overpaid to acquire A.J. Brown, and that it signaled a win-now mentality. He had a sharp response to that.
“We have to win,” Vrabel remarked. “That's our job, is to win. It's a job and responsibility, and the expectation in the National Football League. It's not to go 4-13 two years in a row, if that's what you mean.”
Now that we’ve settled that…
The day after trading a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-rounder, Brown was already in Foxborough, passed his physical (more on that in a minute) and was on the practice field. His participation was more that of a learner than a doer - Brown spent most of his time stapled to WR coach Todd Downing’s hip. That will certainly change as the soon-to-be 29-year-old learns the playbook.
“There's a force to the way that he plays the game, so looking forward to getting used to the things that he can do that I don't know about, which I'm sure there are many of those,” Josh McDaniels said. “Had an opportunity to have a few different receivers come into our system at times, and then you just, you've heard about them, you've seen them, you've watched them play on tape, but then to actually get them on the grass and watch them do different things, it just brings the picture to life. So, looking forward to seeing all those things.”
Brown’s time in Philadelphia, statistically, was an incredible success. Four 1,000-yard seasons, two Super Bowl trips and one win. But he grew disenchanted over the last couple of seasons. I wondered why.
“I won't get into details about it, but you know, I'm excited for this opportunity,” he said. “I'm here now … None of that stuff matters. What’s done is done.”
Easy to be dismissive (in a polite manner), but certainly a question that makes you wonder, as we do with all of these receivers, when the honeymoon will end, as it did for a championship-level team in Philly? But we are a long way from that. For now, Brown is saying, “Obviously I know this isn’t heaven. But it’s close to it” when asked about now playing for the team he grew up rooting for (he wanted to be like his cousin).
Vrabel, who was the driver of this deal, isn’t oblivious to that history, even if he didn’t witness the end in Philadelphia firsthand.
“I think I can't say that there's not going to be things that come up with A.J., with any single player,” he said. “I think this is a competitive game, highly competitive. Players want to win, players want to do everything they can to help their team. … I think what's most important is that those things don't carry into the locker room, that they get handled, and you see that all the time on the sidelines. We want to have conversations in the meeting room, we want to have conversations at practice. And sometimes those conversations are animated, but it's all in the sake of trying to get on the same page and get right.”
The other issue long associated with Brown is his knee. The word “degenerative” has been thrown around so often that it's basically become part of the wideout’s story. But here’s Brown’s games played by season: 16, 14, 13, 17 (1st year of 17-game slate), 17, 13, 15.
“No injury, nothing to worry about,” Brown said of the knee initially, then added. “So maybe in what, four years, I miss one game from a shot to the shot to the knee. … I’m good. I’m ready to go.”
“Again, when you get to talk about 90 guys or 91 guys, there's going to be a different plan for every single guy,” Vrabel added when I asked if Brown’s knee would need to be managed. “It’s a long season; there will be things that we'll have to deal with, and we'll try to do that accordingly. But just based on looking at his availability in the games that he's been able to play in and be there for his team, I think that hopefully leads to future availability.”
The Pats' investment in the player, from a compensation standpoint and a financial one, is not for the meek. In fact, under this ownership, the only two first-round picks they’ve ever traded were for Bill Belichick and Brandin Cooks. But not only did they greenlight the deal, but they also accepted the contract that comes with it. If that’s not a sign of their trust in Vrabel, I don’t know what is. But now it’s up to Vrabel to make it work and have it pay off. Quite frankly, barring unforeseen circumstances, a loss in the divisional round won’t cut it.
“ I think just trying to improve our football team in every possible way, give our offense multiple weapons to build on what we did last year,” Vrabel said of the trade. “I think having experience with the person, to be able to add an accomplished NFL football player, receiver, premium player at his position, but somebody that we also feel strongly about as a person, a competitor and a teammate. I appreciate Eliot [Wolf] for being able to work and get that done.”
That part of the story is now over. It’s what happens next - in 2026 and, at the very least, 2027 - that matters the most.