Talking AJ Brown

Edition #1014: Could the Jets swing a trade for AJ Brown to give themselves a fighting chance in the AFC East?

Good morning ☕

I think we’re all heading into the weekend as Broncos fans as only Jarrett Stidham and a stout Denver defense stand in the way of the Patriots and a trip to the Super Bowl.

I do think that the winner of the SB will come from the NFC considering I believe the Rams and Seahawks are the two strongest teams remaining.

Before my manic weekend of work which will bounce from the AFC U23 Asian Cup final to a Lazio Serie A game and the AFC Championship affair, I’m taking a long old walk through the English countryside and ending with a few pints at a local pub.

Next week we’re going to talk Senior Bowl as the off-season path to the draft starts in Mobile, Alabama. The Jets have a couple of coaches on the staff of the American team, a roster that’s packed full of talent at positions of need.

---

NEWS & NOTES

• Rich Cimini believes that Kirk Cousins may be in play for the Jets this off-season: “They won’t draft a quarterback here unless the Raiders somehow pass on Mendoza. Chances are, the Jets will have an all-encompassing plan: acquire a veteran or two (perhaps Malik Willis or Kirk Cousins), release Justin Fields and draft a quarterback with the No. 16 or No. 33 pick,”

• The Dallas Cowboys are set to hire Philadelphia Eagles passing game coordinator Christian Parker as their new DC after an impressive interview. That’s notable because they also interviewed Jim Leonhard, Ephraim Banda and Daronte Jones, all of whom are in the mix for the Jets DC position.

• Kyle Shanahan had this to say about Mac Jones this week: “You also listen to people with trade offers, but we’re also not into getting rid of good football players. So I would be very surprised if Mac wasn’t around us next year.” [Yahoo Sports]

• Could former Jets GM Joe Douglas be making a comeback? The Atlanta Falcons have requested an interview with him for their vacant position. [Jonathan Jones]

• I don’t think Robert Saleh will be on Dennard Wilson’s Christmas card list anytime soon. When Saleh took the Jets job in 2021, he decided to not retain Wilson who had previously been the DB coach with NY. He was Tennessee’s defensive coordinator last year and Saleh has again decided not to retain him this season.

---

AJ BROWN

There’s now plenty of talk that AJ Brown could have played his last game for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Over the course of the season he averaged 5.2 targets per game which was basically identical to last season.

He still had 1000 yards and 7 touchdowns but the talk towards the end of the season was based around some presumed tension in that locker room.

AJ Brown is one of the best receivers in football, but in 8 games last season he was held to 50 or fewer passing yards. In 11 games he was held without a touchdown, yet he received 10 or more targets on 6 occasions.

Although nothing has been confirmed, it now seems almost certain that he’ll be moving on this offseason.

Most analysts have linked him with a move to Buffalo. Considering Josh Allen’s lack of receiving weapons has been a focus this post-season that’s hardly surprising.

Buffalo own the 26th overall selection in the draft, and considering Brown has six 1,000 yard receiving seasons on his resume and two seasons of 11 TDS…it’ll probably take that and more to get the Eagles to move their star receiver.

I don’t really want to live in a world where Josh Allen has AJ Brown as his #1 target with James Cook on the ground. That’s the kind of move that pushes a team over the top and I’m quite content with Buffalo failing every off-season.