Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman recently shared the story about how the team traded for wide receiver A.J. Brown during the 2022 NFL Draft.
Howie Roseman Breaks Down A.J. Brown Trade
Howie Roseman breaks down the inner workings behind the blockbuster AJ Brown trade pic.twitter.com/8TqK8GpViG
— Bussin' With The Boys (@BussinWTB) August 14, 2025
During the 2022 NFL Draft, the Eagles traded a 2022 first-round pick and a 2022 third-round pick to the Tennessee Titans for Brown.
The secretive trade rarely happened due to contract issues.
On a recent episode of Bussin’ With The Boys, Roseman shared his side of the story for how the trade happened. Roseman said the terms of the trade were completed the morning of the draft.
However, Roseman still had to work out a new contract for Brown.
“At the time, we started with three first-round picks in that draft,” Roseman said. “We traded one for a future pick with New Orleans. We still had two, and basically, I said, “Jon [Robinson, then-Titans general manager], if we can’t get a contract done, we can’t do this trade. We can’t trade you a one and a three [draft picks] for one year of a player. We gotta get a contract done first.”
Brown was entering the final year of his deal and needed an extension.
The Eagles traded up to No. 13 to select Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis.
From the Davis selection to pick No. 18, Roseman worked with Brown on a contract. Roseman kept this information close to the vest.
“Nobody knew except a couple people that we were even doing it because I said, ‘Imagine this falls apart? I’m gonna be the GM who can’t get a deal done with A.J.?'” Roseman said.
Howie Roseman Closes The Deal For A.J. Brown
A review of the trade that involved Treylon Burks, who now has been released. pic.twitter.com/wUy2hBxrMQ
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 28, 2025
In the end, Roseman and Brown agreed to a four-year, $100 million contract.
Rosemna finalized the deal around pick No. 14.
“The deal was done, and I turned to Jeffrey [Lurie] and Nick [Sirianni] and I said, ‘We’re gonna surprise our room when we’re on the clock. They don’t know anything about it.’ When we get ready to pick, I’m just gonna say, ‘Hey guys, we’re picking A.J. Brown,'” Roseman explained. “And they’re all gonna look at me, like, ‘What the f—‘s going on?’ But they’re gonna be excited as sh–. It was really fun, it was great energy. It was really like, I can’t even get to five on the amount of people who knew in our building because of the contract situation.”
Brown has ascended into one of the 10 best receivers in football, with three consecutive seasons of over 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Treylon Burks, the player the Titans drafted at No. 18, was released by the organization earlier this offseason.
