It may have happened on the first of June, but the day that the Philadelphia Eagles traded A.J. Brown was like Christmas for fans of the Dallas Cowboys. The long-overdue trade that sent Brown to New England gave Dallas' hopes of winning the NFC East a big boost.
After months of complaining and enough trade speculation to last a lifetime, the Eagles are finally rid of a player that rocked the division in 2025. It got to the point that the city of Philadelphia was ready to escort Brown to the airport, but that opinion isn't shared by Eagles defensive back Cooper DeJean.
On an episode of DeJean's new podcast "Exciting Mics" with ex-Eagles safety Reed Blankenship, the All-Pro cornerback said something that most Dallas fans will love: he's making it clear that no matter how the court of public opinion sways on A.J. Brown, he'll miss him.
"I mean, yeah, I wish him nothing but success over there for sure," he said. "Yeah, he'll be a good asset for them. And obviously, we're gonna miss him, and what he was able to do in Philly. He was a dominant player, so you'll get to go against him. But yeah, now we get to play against him, or joint practice. It'll be fun to go against him and see him up there in Foxborough, different colors."
Cooper DeJean said he will miss having A.J. Brown on the Eagles
After such an ugly breakup, you have to commend the 23-year-old for having the class to speak candidly rather than besmirch his former teammate on his way out the door. From such a young player, it's rare to see that much professionalism, especially given the classlessness of Eagles fans.
DeJean's comments are telling in another way in that they are a major contrast from the comments of one of his Eagles teammates. Left tackle Jordan Mailata said, "thank God it's over," in reference to the saga, as the 29-year-old's frustration with Jalen Hurts and Kevin Patullo was too much for their locker room to bear.
"I think this is more of a -- it sounds terrible -- but like, thank God it's over. It was a slow pain of just, is he in, is he out? We didn't really know, and that really wasn't our focus as a team, our team, especially on offense."
For as much of a diva as Brown was or as much as he complained, DeJean is right. He was a key piece of the offense and was Hurts' favorite target before everything collapsed. There's a reason that the 2019 second-round pick is consistently looked at as a top 10 receiver in the NFL.
The Ole Miss Rebel has surpassed 1,000 receiving yards in six of his seven NFL seasons, and in the other season, he came 131 yards away. He has three All-Pros and three Pro Bowls on his resume, and he was Philly's best receiver on their 2024 Super Bowl team.
No amount of revisionist history will change that. And now he's reunited with Mike Vrabel, where he'll be Drake Maye's top target.
Maybe the Eagles' locker room can enjoy less distractions with Makai Lemon replacing A.J. Brown, but Philadelphia has already forgotten how talented the man they traded away is.
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