The Eagles were able to land a dynamic pass catcher on night one of the NFL drafts, trading pick No. 18 overall to the Titans for A.J. Brown.
After watching the Lions make moves to select Jameson Williams, Philadelphia quickly moved to trade up for Jordan Davis, and then about 15-minutes, made the deal of the night, trading for A.J. Brown and sending the picks to Tennessee.
After round one, Eagles GM Howie Roseman explained his reasoning for both trades and gave some insight into what went into landing Brown from the Titans.
“The trade was contingent on us getting an extension, so something we were working on during the course of the Draft. We were just kind of trying to balance finishing that and if we didn’t finish that, making sure we also got the right players. But it didn’t matter – the receivers on the board. For us, [WR] A.J. Brown was somebody that we had studied coming out and spent a lot of time on, and we had a lot of love for A.J. Brown in that Draft. Obviously, things went a different way in that Draft.”
Trading for a proven wideout in Brown takes away any uncertainty from the choice, while Davis will have an opportunity to grow and mature next to Fletcher Cox and Javon Hargrave.
Roseman also made the moves without having to part ways with any of his 2023 or 2024 assets, giving Philadelphia even more flexibility going forward.
