New England Patriots
“Just trying to improve our football team in every possible way. Give our offense multiple weapons to build on what we did last year.”
Mike Vrabel and the Patriots were back at practice on Tuesday. John Tlumacki/Boston Globe
June 2, 2026 | 5:07 PM
4 minutes to read
FOXBOROUGH — Mike Vrabel didn’t mince words on Tuesday when asked about the cost that the Patriots paid to pry A.J. Brown out of Philadelphia.
Adding an All-Pro wideout of Brown’s talents to New England’s roster stands as a sizable upgrade to a Patriots team that fell just a win short of an unexpected Super Bowl title in February.
But New England did have to relinquish some hefty draft capital to complete the long-awaited deal — sending a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round selection to Philly.
But Vrabel brushed aside any talk of the potential risks of New England orchestrating a “win-now” move with this deal.
“We have to win… That’s our job, and responsibility, and expectation in the National Football League,” Vrabel told reporters on Tuesday ahead of OTA practice. “It’s not to go 4-13 two years in a row, if that’s what you mean.”
Brown’s versatility as a big-bodied outside receiver who can also carve up man coverage and bail out his QB when under duress should be a welcome sight for Drake Maye in 2026 and beyond.
Since entering the league in 2019, Brown ranks fourth in the NFL in both receiving yards (8,029) and touchdown catches (56).
“I think he loves football,” Vrabel said of what makes Brown such an impactful player. “I think that he has a physical skill set. He’s got great body control. I think he’s strong at the catch point.
“But I also think as he’s grown as a player and as a receiver, just the nuances of releases vs. press or playing vs. bracketed coverages or zone coverages. Plays physically with the football and has been a productive and consistent player.”
Just a day after the trade was struck between New England and Philly, Brown was out on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium — reeling in a few throws from Maye as part of New England’s voluntary organized team activities.
“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 Brown’s addition. “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 and a competitor and as a teammate.
Brown’s track record speaks for itself, with the 28-year-old wideout surpassing 1,000 or more receiving yards in six of his seven full seasons in the NFL.
For those keeping track, New England has only had two players surpass 1,000 receiving yards in the last seven seasons — Julian Edelman in 2019 and Stefon Diggs in 2025.
But Brown did end his fruitful four-year run with the Eagles on a rocky note — routinely airing out his dissatisfaction with Philadelphia’s offensive approach and his role in said operation.
In November 2025, Brown proclaimed his situation in Philly as a “s— show”, with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie meeting personally with Brown to hash out his concerns over his role on the team.
“You can’t keep slapping a Band-Aid over that and expect to win late in the year and think you’re going to go to that at the end of the year. It’s not going to f—ing happen,” Brown told reporters last year.
Despite those frustrations, Vrabel said that he’s not concerned about Brown’s exit from his previous team — a franchise that he won a Super Bowl with in February 2025.
“I think this is a competitive game, highly competitive,” Vrabel said. “Players want to win, players want to do everything they can to help their team. They want to make sure that people are on the right page. I don’t get into a lot of that.”
“I don’t know what happened,” Vrabel added. “I’m not trying to figure out what happened in Philadelphia. I’m trying to focus on what’s going to happen here and trying to get him acclimated to what we do and how we do it.”
Vrabel has plenty of familiarity with Brown, having coached the promising wideout during his first three years in the NFL, when both coach and player were with the Titans.
As such, he’s well aware of Brown’s longstanding affinity for the Patriots — one that finally led to him donning a New England jersey on Tuesday afternoon
“I think that was known for a long time,” Vrabel said of Brown’s support for the Patriots. “I think I knew that. I think he showed me pictures when he was a little kid wearing my jersey and stuff like that. … He didn’t wear my jersey.
“I think I knew when we drafted him, he was like, “I wished the Patriots drafted me.” And I said, “That didn’t happen. The Titans drafted you.” I think there’s the success that this team had in those years when a lot of our players were growing up, it would be easy to root for a lot of players that played for this team in the early 2000s.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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