Having A.J. Brown fantasy stock in 2025 has been quite the roller coaster ride. The Philadelphia Eagles receiver was at the center of trade rumors for months, only for the deadline to pass without any movement. That didn’t end the drama, though, as Brown took things to a whole new level on a Twitch live stream Tuesday night. While streamer “jankyrondo” played Madden 26 as the Eagles, Brown gave some pretty black-and-white advice to fantasy owners.
“If you got me on fantasy, man, get rid of me,” Brown said.
Well, it doesn’t get any more blunt than that. Now, it’s time for fantasy football owners to make a decision: should they take Brown’s words at face value, or hold out hope that he can get right down the stretch?
A.J. Brown Fantasy Value
Brown entered 2025 as a consensus top-10 receiver in fantasy. He was WR9 in both 2019 and 2020, then emerged as WR4 upon joining the Eagles in 2022. Brown was WR8 in 2023, then fell to WR17 in 2024, but mostly because he missed four games with a hamstring injury. Between 2019 and 2024, Brown ranked No. 4 in both receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. Coming off a Super Bowl victory, there was no reason to believe the 28-year-old was going to drop off.
Then, Brown got just one target in Week 1. He caught it, at least, but it set an uneasy tone for the weeks ahead. Brown caught five of eight targets in Week 2, albeit for just 27 yards. The three-time Pro Bowler finally broke out with 22.9 PPR fantasy points in Week 3, catching six of 10 targets for 109 yards and a touchdown, only to post 2.7 fantasy points on two catches and nine targets in Week 4.
Right after he went for 121 yards and two touchdowns in Week 7, Brown popped up on the injury report with a hamstring issue and missed Week 8. Coming out of Philadelphia’s Week 9 bye, Brown posted another dud on Monday Night Football, catching two of three targets for 13 yards. Jalen Hurts threw his way on an end zone shot in the final minute, but Brown didn’t seem to make much of an effort to fight for it.
On the whole this season, Brown is WR40. He is averaging 11.2 fantasy points per game. Between Weeks 4 and 8, he averaged 15.4. Brown has cleared double-digit fantasy points just three times, though, which is the same number of times he has failed to reach 4.0.
What is wrong with the Eagles offense?
Even with the Eagles sitting at 7-2, Brown has not been shy about expressing his frustration. As he reiterated to the media on Wednesday, though, his concerns go beyond his own individual usage. Philadelphia ranks No. 12 in scoring and No. 24 in total yards through 10 weeks after finishing 2024 ranked No. 7 and No. 8 in those categories. Saquon Barkley has seen his yards per carry drop from 5.8 to 3.9 year-over-year, severely limiting what the Eagles can do through the air. Even though Hurts’ passer rating has climbed from 103.7 to 112.0, the Eagles rank No. 27 in third down conversion percentage. They also boast the highest three-and-out rate by any NFL team since 2014, per UPenn senior lecturer Deniz Selman.
Across his first three seasons with the Eagles, Brown averaged 8.5 targets, 5.6 receptions and 85.8 yards per game. This year, he is averaging 6.8 targets, 3.9 receptions, 51.0 yards per game. Brown’s 57.4% catch percentage and 7.6 yards per target are career-lows. His average depth of target is relatively steady year-over-year, but his yards per route run have tanked from 3.13 to 1.68.
There isn’t much competition beyond DeVonta Smith, only the rare Jahan Dotson deep shot. Barkley, Dallas Goedert and Grant Calcaterra’s combined target share is about even with where it was in 2024, so it isn’t like other positions are siphoning away looks. Smith is actually outpacing Brown in catch percentage, estimated points added, yards per route run. They are neck-and-neck in average depth of target, target share and average yards after catch. Basically, Brown has gone from unchallenged WR1 in an elite Eagles offense to option 1A or 1B in an extremely flawed unit.
Is it time to trade A.J. Brown?
Is A.J. Brown going to give you the production you hoped for when you drafted him? No, at least not on any consistent level. In an ideal world, you could trade him and try to recoup your losses. However, Brown continuing to make headlines with his displeasure is making it increasingly difficult to get a fantasy trade over the finish line.
If you are trying to trade Brown, you have never had less leverage. A player with WR1 upside should net you a decent package on paper, but opposing owners probably won’t be willing to pay a fair price right now. The easiest path forward is to hope Hurts feeds Brown in Week 11 and then try to sell other teams on the idea that the issues have been resolved. Unfortunately, heavy winds are likely to be a factor in Philadelphia this weekend, which would presumably decrease the odds of the Eagles airing it out to Brown on a regular basis. Maybe a favorable matchup with the Lions – whose defense ranks 24th against fantasy receivers – can negate that a bit, but Brown’s opportunities will probably be limited regardless.
There just isn’t going to be a clean out when it comes to Brown. If you can find one, great. Flip him for a top-20 running back, if you can. Otherwise, you’re going to have to accept either a downgrade with a higher floor and lower ceiling, or riding with the boom-or-bust wideout. The Cowboys and Bears – the Eagles’ Week 12 and 13 opponents – boast bottom-three fantasy defenses, so maybe just roll with Brown in those potential shootouts. Going against the 29th-ranked Raiders and 27th-ranked Commanders in Weeks 15 and 16 could make Brown a fantasy playoff hero, as well, so the upside of keeping him outweighs dumping him for spare parts.
