Patriots provide another signal toward A.J. Brown trade with Eagles originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

At this point, all the roads are leading to the New England Patriots.

A.J. Brown's trade rumors with the Philadelphia Eagles don't seem to involve any teams other than the Pats at this point. It feels like just a matter of time.

In reality, it'll still be a bit of time. The Eagles are financially incentivized to hold Brown until after June 1 to mitigate some of the cost of trading him.

The Patriots will surely wait. Brown is a top-notch WR and would help Drake Maye while pairing nicely with offseason signing Romeo Doubs.

But as the days go by, it becomes more and more clear that New England thinks this deal is indeed going to happen.

The latest signal? The Patriots didn't draft a wide receiver.

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They've got a decent depth chart already, but if Brown wasn't a possibility, there likely would've been room for another wideout.

This draft class did include tight end Eli Raridon out of Notre Dame, but no players for the WR depth chart.

Yep, it sure seems like Brown is coming, and it won't be cheap.

"It makes sense that the Eagles might hold out for a first-round pick, even if it means waiting for 2028 or the pick is conditional on Brown reaching certain performance-based markers," ESPN's Mike Reiss wrote on Monday. "The Patriots, however, could point to the 2024 deal that sent Stefon Diggs from Buffalo to Houston in a package that included a second-rounder as the top chip."

The Patriots may have to wait until June, but at this point, it'd be a surprise if this trade didn't happen.

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