Eagles get $43.5M Update on A. J. Brown as Nick Sirianni Urged to Cut Ties with WR

“You actually have to process the trade after June 1 first to allow for the split that you see here. So, it’s either they’re going to take their lump and take their medicine and take on the fourth largest deadcap hit in the history of football, or they can wait till after June 1st, and then this is how that 43.5 million splits up.”

According to the breakdown, the big $72.5 million number only applies if the Eagles completely release AJ Brown before June 1. That would force all of his remaining guaranteed money to hit the salary cap at once, which would be problematic for the team.

The real number that matters in a trade is $43.5 million. This money is unavoidable because it comes from bonuses that have already been paid to Brown (signing bonus and option bonuses). Since that money is already paid, it must stay on the Eagles’ salary cap no matter where he plays. The important part is that this number does not include the $29 million salary for 2026, as the amount hasn’t been paid yet and would move to the new team in a trade.

However, all of this came into the picture after a former Cowboys pro stepped forward with a recommendation to Nick Sirianni.

Former Cowboys pro suggests Nick Sirianni make an urgent decision on AJ Brown

The Philadelphia Eagles’ 2025 season ended on a disappointing note, and the team has already initiated necessary changes. While the decision to remove the offensive coordinator, Kevin Patullo, was already making headlines, former Cowboys pro Marcus Spears stepped forward to suggest another change. According to him, Nick Sirianni should consider trading their wide receiver, AJ Brown, following a season that saw limited performance amid heavy reliance from the team.

“[The Eagles] need to trade A.J. Brown,” Spears said on Wednesday’s First Take. “We’ve talked about A.J. and the team and we saw the blowup with Nick Sirianni during the playoff game but that wasn’t the one that did it for me. I know there were two misses in the [playoff] game, but those two misses don’t dismiss all of the catches and big plays he’s made while in a Philadelphia Eagles uniform. So that play specifically at the end of the game told me that this whole thing was a problem.”

AJ “always open” brown drops easiest pass ever & blames his head coach #flyeaglesfly locker room is a MESS pic.twitter.com/IJrrJWKz23

— Jimbo (@JimbosJunkbox) January 11, 2026

A.J. Brown caught 3 of 7 targets for 25 yards in the 49ers’ Wild Card loss. The WR didn’t catch a pass after the first quarter and had multiple drops, including one on a crucial late drive that could’ve helped extend the game. While these struggles were noted by several analysts across the league, calls to cut ties with him seem quite obvious.

Although there’s still no acknowledgement of these requests from the head coach due to significant financial constraints, it remains to be seen what his next move will be.