Let’s appreciate A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith in light of Brandon Aiyuk’s holdout, potential trade
Aiyuk is reportedly being traded by the 49ers, breaking up a potent receiving combo. Brown and Smith are potent, signed, and happy.
It is a fate that easily could have awaited the Eagles. In different circumstances, maybe it would have come to pass.
Different quarterback? Different coach? Different general manager? Different organization? Different system?
Who knows?
Maybe A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith are what’s different.
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We do know this: The Eagles’ young receiving tandem is on the verge of losing one of its worthiest rivals.
At least, that was the word late Tuesday afternoon, a trickle of reports crescendoing toward the inevitable news that the San Francisco 49ers are trading away Brandon Aiyuk. According to various national media outlets, San Francisco has agreed in principle on a deal to ship the younger of their two star wide receivers to the Pittsburgh Steelers, provided Aiyuk does not accept the 49ers’ final offer on a long-term contract extension.
Whatever happens, the summer’s longest-running contract squabble offers the latest proof for the NFL’s longest-running fundamental truth.
As hard as it is to please one young superstar wide receiver, it is virtually impossible to do it with two.
Maybe Howie Roseman really is a witch.
For all the accolades the Eagles general manager received this offseason, his most impressive feat was his ability to ensure at least one more season of highly paid harmony among Jalen Hurts’ most important pass-catchers. On April 15, he locked up Smith on a three-year, $75 million contract extension that included a reported $51 million guaranteed. Less than two weeks later, he re-upped Brown to a three-year, $96 million deal with $84 million guaranteed.
It was an organizational flex equal parts remarkable and surprising. When the Eagles acquired Brown in a draft-day trade with the Tennessee Titans in 2022, it was fair to wonder whether the stage was set for a future showdown like the one in San Francisco. The deal came with a four-year, $100 million contract extension that Tennessee had been unwilling to deliver. Would the Eagles really be able to offer another one when it came time to pay the guy already on their roster?
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At the time of the Brown deal, Smith was coming off a rookie season that portended things big and expensive. The overall numbers did not pop the way they might have in a less run-heavy offense. But they were numbers indicative of a future bell-cow receiver: 64 catches, 916 yards, and, most significantly, a team-leading 104 targets. That last number is the important one: 28 more than the next most frequently fed option, good enough for a 22.2% share that ranked among the top 30 NFL wide receivers.
Smith was a Heisman Trophy winner, a national champion, the No. 10 overall pick in the draft. With pedigree comes a certain degree of pride.
Yet here we are.
What Brown and Smith have accomplished in their first two years together has been borderline unprecedented. True, there have been plenty of prolific and harmonious receiving tandems throughout NFL history. Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison, Cris Carter and Randy Moss. Just to name a few. But the thing you’ll note about each one of those pairs is the age differential. It can work just fine when one of the two is well-paid and the other is making rookie wages. It is incredibly rare to find a duo that has been as historically productive as Smith and Brown at similar stages of their careers.
One needn’t look any further than the two most comparable tandems in today’s NFL.
Last season, 25-year-old Aiyuk and 27-year-old Deebo Samuel combined for 2,234 yards on 135 receptions. This, while playing alongside a tight end in George Kittle, who caught 65 passes for 1,020 yards.
Smith and Brown combined for 187 catches and 2,522 yards. On a per-game basis, they practically were a mirror image of Aiyuk and Samuel.
Likewise with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in Cincinnati. Two years ago, with a healthy Joe Burrow, Chase and Higgins combined to average 11.9 receptions and 151.5 yards per game.
On any given Sunday, you can make a valid argument for preferring any one of the three duos over the others. As for all future Sundays — Smith and Brown stand alone.
Assuming Aiyuk is traded, the Higgins-Chase pairing will emerge as the NFL’s stickiest situation. Chase, currently on his fifth-year rookie option, has yet to sign a contract extension. Higgins will play out the season on a franchise tender after reportedly seeking a trade this offseason.
Every relationship is different. Every locker room is different. Every organizational balance sheet is different. The friction between guys like Aiyuk and Higgins and their organizations is not necessarily a reflection on the player or his running mate.
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We can say this, though. The Eagles are fortunate. Roseman surely remembers the lessons from the Terrell Owens fiasco. The rest of us sure do. Money always speaks the loudest. But chemistry matters, too.
“Me and DeVonta, I always say that we are peanut butter and jelly,” Brown said earlier this summer. “Not even just friends, but family. His success is my success, and my success is his success. We’re happy for one another. We know we’re going to get taken care of at the end of the day. And we look at it as competition, too. Whoever gets the ball, whoever gets going, we feed off that energy. I can’t speak on everyone else’s situation [in the league], and I’m not. But I’m happy to have a partner alongside of me who pushes me, who is selfless.”
The Eagles are happy to have both of them.