The Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots have more than being AFC East teams in common. One of the other things they have in common is a need at wide receiver.
For the Patriots, Stefon Diggs is under contract for two more years, but he's also going to be 33 next year, which leads to fears about a decline. Behind Diggs, the Patriots have a lot of uncertainty in their young wide receivers room.
In Buffalo, Keon Coleman failed to take the step forward everyone expected him to in 2025 and his sophomore season has been a disaster. Free-agent addition Joshua Palmer has been a bust, leaving the Bills with Khalil Shakir and not much else.
One player both teams could have interest in, according to Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport, is Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown, who is widely considered a possible trade candidate in 2026.
"The Patriots have shown this season they are legitimate contenders. There's a window open — one that's open a lot wider until the team has to pay quarterback Drake Maye all the money ever," Davenport said of the Patriots' possible interest in Brown. "And while the Pats have some skill-position talent and Stefon Diggs has turned back the clock at times this season, the team lacks a true 'alpha' wide receiver."
"The Bills advanced to the Divisional Round with a win in Jacksonville Sunday, but if the team once again comes up short of the Super Bowl, a lack of talent at wide receiver will be pointed to as one of the biggest reasons why," Davenport said of why the Bills could use Brown. "Many will complain that Josh Allen's prime is being wasted by the lack of a true go-to wideout."
The reason behind the speculation surrounding Brown's future with the Eagles is obvious.
He publicly voiced displeasure with the Eagles' offense on multiple occasions in 2025 and the last image we'll remember from Philly's season will be his sideline spat with head coach Nick Sirianni.
If the Eagles do unload Brown, it'll be via trade, and likely with a post-June 1 designation.
That's because any other avenue would cost a boatload in terms of dead money. The cheapest way is the post-June 1 designation that would incur a dead-cap hit of $16.3 million while saving the Eagles $7 million, per Over The Cap.
Considering their respective needs at wide receiver and the win-now situations they are both in, the Patriots and Bills would gladly pay the price in draft compensation and take on Brown's $96 million contract.
However, the Patriots are better positioned to land Brown, and for a few reasons.
New England is slated to have $46.1 million in cap space this offseason while the Bills are projected to be $5 million over. New England also has four more draft picks than Buffalo has in 2026.
Another advantage the Patriots have is the fact that Brown has a connection to head coach Mike Vrabel from their days together with the Tennessee Titans.
Granted, the Titans made the foolish decision to trade Brown to the Eagles, but it was quite clear based on his initial reaction in the draft room that Vrabel did not agree with the move.
While we could see both teams making a play for Brown in 2026, it's pretty obvious that the Patriots have the edge to land him over their divisional foe.
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