New England Patriots
The Patriots know that there’s a chance that this doesn’t work. And they went out and got a big-name, accomplished player anyways.
The Patriots were aware of A.J. Brown’s right knee, and team trainers and medical staff examined him and signed off on the deal. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff
June 4, 2026 | 9:26 AM
4 minutes to read
The Patriots’ decision to trade for A.J. Brown does come with risk, which naturally has left your sports radio show of choice to do what it does best: dry-heave faux-concerned takes about why something that makes you happy as a fan should not.
The long-anticipated deal sending the super-productive receiver from Philadelphia to Foxborough was completed Monday, and yep, it does come with well-established risks.
Brown turns 29 at the end of the month, which ain’t that young anymore for an NFL receiver. And he arrives with a creaky hinge. Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf acknowledged Wednesday that the team was aware of the degenerative condition in Brown’s right knee, and that team trainers and medical staff examined him and signed off on the deal.
Gotta acknowledge it: Brown’s time here, however long it lasts, could go sideways. But the predictable fear-mongering misses the more important point — not only on how the Patriots approached this move, but how it applies to other Boston sports teams at one crossroads or another.
The Patriots know that there’s a chance that this doesn’t work. And they went out and got a big-name, accomplished player who, if a few more things go right rather than wrong, will be exactly what the franchise needs in its quest to get back to the Super Bowl and perhaps even win the darned thing this time.
He is the No. 1 receiver the Patriots lacked last year, and better, his strengths (getting wide open downfield) align with what quarterback Drake Maye does best (throw gorgeous deep passes, often into tight windows because his targets were only slightly open). The Patriots considered the risk, and the steep cost (the Eagles received a 2028 first-round pick as part of the return), and made a move both bold and obvious to support their franchise player.
That’s not taking a gamble. That’s doing what’s necessary to legitimately compete for a championship.
Every Boston sports team should operate the same way.
Yet here we are, giddily watching Brown’s first workout with the Patriots, and wishing that their season started a heck of a lot sooner than September.
One of the reasons for that? The team that is supposed to own the summer around here, the Red Sox, couldn’t even bother teasing us with a false spring this year. They opened the season 1-5 and then 2-8. When longtime manager Alex Cora was fired, they were 10-17. Entering Wednesday, they were 25-34 and in last place in the American League East, with a 17.5 percent chance of making the playoffs per baseball-reference.com.
Most offensively, they were 9-20 at Fenway Park, and the reason is clear: Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow did not bother to pay the price for a proper offense. As colleague Peter Abraham noted earlier this week, Willson Contreras has been an excellent pickup. The problem is that the Red Sox needed so much more.
Willson Contreras is hitting .291 with a Red Sox-high 11 home runs and 33 RBIS in 58 games. – Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
During their three-game wild-card playoff loss to the Yankees last October — the kind of grotesque outcome that once upon a time spurred the Red Sox into swift action — the likes of Nate Eaton and Nathaniel Lowe batted sixth in the order. In the third game, Masataka Yoshida — who has five home runs since the end of the 2024 season — batted cleanup. Nate Sogard got a couple of starts at second base.
The lineup was not good enough then, and even with the addition of Contreras, it is much worse now. Alex Bregman — a somewhat steadier option in the No. 2 spot than Trevor Story — departed for the Cubs. Romy Gonzalez had an injury linger over the winter and hasn’t played this season. Story was terrible before he got hurt.
The Red Sox knew they needed at least one big middle-of-the order bat after last season, and probably two, maybe even three. They got Contreras, who may or may not surpass his career high of 24 homers, set seven years ago, and he does not make up for the losses and the lineup-constructing neglect.
They could have — should have — acquired him, and a Pete Alonso or a Kyle Schwarber. They did not take the risk, or ante up, and bless his effort, but Caleb Durbin does not quite fit into that class of ballplayer.
And then we have the Celtics, who are at their own compelling kind of crossroads. They have two prime-of-career, All-Star wings in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. But despite Brown’s often-stated satisfaction with this season, in the end, they went backward, blowing a 3-1 lead to the 76ers and losing in the first round. If they are intent on competing for championships in the immediate future — and during his season-ending news conference, Brad Stevens sure sounded like that remains the mission — there’s really only one path for them to do that: Trade an excellent player for an even better one, and one who offers more offensive diversity.
My earlier column on why they should trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo requires no sequel. I said what I wanted to say then, and most of you loyal Jaylen fans don’t want to get hit with that splash of truth again.
So let’s leave it at this. The Patriots, in trading for A.J. Brown, did the bold and necessary thing in the pursuit of a championship. The Red Sox? Ha-ha, good one. And the Celtics? We’ll know their path over the next couple of weeks. But you, me, and Marcus Smart already know this much:
Whether he takes the risk or not, Stevens is not going to be sentimental. He rightly saves that for when he’s celebrating a championship, rather than when he’s doing everything necessary to build one.
Chad Finn
Chad Finn is a sports columnist for Boston.com. He has been voted Favorite Sports Writer in Boston in the annual Channel Media Market and Research Poll for the past four years. He also writes a weekly sports media column for the Globe and contributes to Globe Magazine.
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