The long-awaited trade of A.J. Brown to the Patriots happened Monday, and now we know what to expect from the offenses in Philadelphia and New England this season, which benefits Fantasy managers. In exchange for Brown, the Eagles received a first-round draft pick in 2028 and a 2027 fifth-round pick.
Let’s start with the Patriots, who gave Drake Maye a new No. 1 receiver in Brown. He turns 29 on June 30, and Brown should be considered a low-end No. 1 Fantasy receiver worth drafting toward the end of Round 2 or beginning of Round 3 in all leagues.
He didn’t have a great end to his tenure in Philadelphia in 2025 at 14.7 PPR points per game with 78 catches for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns on 121 targets, but he closed the season on a high note. In his final seven games of the regular season from Weeks 11-17, Brown averaged 18.6 PPR points, including five outings with at least 10 targets, three games with over 100 receiving yards, and four touchdowns. To put that in perspective, only five receivers averaged more PPR points per game for the season than Brown did during that stretch.
Now, we have to see how Brown will mesh with Maye, but I’m expecting Maye and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to keep Brown playing at a high level. The No. 1 receiver in New England last season was Stefon Diggs, who had 85 catches for 1,013 yards and four touchdowns on 102 targets. Diggs, who was 32, only averaged 12.4 PPR points per game, but Brown is a much better player than Diggs now.
Brown averaged 8.4 targets per game during his four-year tenure in Philadelphia. I’m expecting that to be the same in New England with Maye and McDaniels, and I’m excited about this trade for Brown.
The Patriots added Romeo Doubs this offseason but moved on from Diggs, who is a free agent. Mack Hollins, Kayshon Boutte, Kyle Williams and DeMario Douglas remain on the roster, but Brown is the alpha. Doubs, who averaged at least 10.2 PPR points per game for three seasons in a row with the Packers, is worth drafting with a late-round pick, but none of the other receivers in New England have much Fantasy value in 2026.
As for Maye, he was the No. 3 Fantasy quarterback in 2025 at 24.4 points per game with 4,394 passing yards, 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions, along with 450 rushing yards and four touchdowns. I have him ranked as the No. 3 quarterback this season behind Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, and I would draft Maye as early as Round 4 in one-quarterback leagues. Maye is a first-round pick in Superflex and two-quarterback leagues.
Nothing changes with the Fantasy value for Hunter Henry or the running backs in TreVeyon Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson. Henry is a late-round flier at best, and I like Henderson and Stevenson as flex options. Henderson is worth drafting in Round 6, and I would select Stevenson in Round 7.
In Philadelphia, the biggest winner with Brown gone is DeVonta Smith. He’s now the No. 1 receiver for the Eagles even though Philadelphia prepared for Brown’s departure with the addition of first-round rookie Makai Lemon, as well as veterans Marquise Brown, Dontayvion Wicks and Elijah Moore.
But Smith should now be the star in the passing game, and he’s headed for the best season of his five-year career. It’s a small sample size, but Smith has played three games over the past two seasons without A.J. Brown, and Smith averaged 16.6 PPR points over that span. More importantly, he averaged 9.7 targets per game, and he should see plenty of opportunities from Jalen Hurts in 2026.
I would draft Smith as early as Round 3 in the majority of leagues as a high-end No. 2 Fantasy receiver. He should come off the board right after Brown.
By the end of the season, Lemon could challenge Smith for the top spot in Philadelphia, and he has the chance to be the best rookie Fantasy receiver this year. In rookie-only drafts for dynasty leagues, Lemon should be considered a top-five overall pick. And he’s worth drafting as early as Round 6 in redraft formats.
At USC, Lemon was a star in 2025 with 79 catches for 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns, and he won the Biletnikoff Award as the best receiver in college football. He is a great route runner who is dangerous after the catch, and it’s easy to compare him to another USC great in Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown.
It’s going to be fun to see how the Eagles deploy Smith and Lemon, and I’m excited to see how Lemon develops. Marquise Brown, Wicks and Moore should have a role, but none of them will be Fantasy relevant if Smith and Lemon are healthy.
Dallas Goedert also benefits with A.J. Brown gone, and Goedert is coming off a solid season in 2025, where he was the No. 6 Fantasy tight end at 12.3 PPR points per game. He tied Trey McBride for the touchdown lead with 11, and Goedert also added 60 catches for 591 yards on 82 targets in 15 games.
Goedert has played four games without Brown in the past two seasons, and Goedert averaged 16.2 PPR points per game over that span. He is worth drafting with a mid-round pick as a low-end No. 1 Fantasy tight end in all leagues.
Hurts will take a hit without Brown, but Hurts remains a No. 1 Fantasy quarterback in all leagues. He should be drafted as early as Round 5 in one-quarterback leagues, and he’s a Round 2 selection in Superflex and two-quarterback formats.
Hurts had a down season in 2025 at 21.8 Fantasy points per game, which was his lowest total since his rookie campaign in 2020. The positive is that he passed for a career-high 25 touchdowns, but he rushed for just 421 yards and eight touchdowns, which were his worst totals since he was a rookie.
The Eagles changed offensive coordinators this season, going from Kevin Patullo to Sean Mannion, which will hopefully be an upgrade for Hurts. And while losing Brown isn’t ideal, the addition of Lemon and the other veterans should help Hurts continue to play at a high level.
In four games over the past two seasons without Brown, Hurts averaged 22.1 Fantasy points per game. He threw four touchdowns and scored 33.4 Fantasy points in Week 8 last season against the Giants without Brown.
The only other player of note to mention here is Saquon Barkley, who remains a low-end No. 1 Fantasy running back in all leagues. He is worth drafting in Round 2.
Barkley, who had a down season in 2025 at 14.5 PPR points per game compared to 22.2 PPR points per game in 2024, will hopefully see an uptick in his receiving stats with Brown gone. Barkley has averaged 35 receptions for 276 yards and two touchdowns on 47 targets in two seasons with the Eagles.
In four games without Brown over the past two years, Barkley had 12 catches for 72 yards and one touchdown on 15 targets. I’m not adjusting my ranking of Barkley with Brown gone, but I’m hopeful Mannion will use Barkley more in the passing game than Patullo did in 2025.
Overall, I like this trade for both teams. Brown should continue to perform at a high level in New England, and Maye benefits with his new weapon. Hurts should remain a quality Fantasy starter, and Smith should have a breakout campaign in 2026, along with Lemon and Goedert playing at a high level.
We’ll see how the Average Draft Position changes for all of the Eagles and Patriots now that the trade is official. But we’re glad it’s done, and we can now focus on what happens on the field instead of the speculation we had to deal with for the past few months.
