‘A.J. Brown is a member of the Eagles’: Howie Roseman’s mantra on star wideout unlikely to quiet speculation

PHOENIX — When fielding questions about A.J. Brown at the NFL annual meeting with local reporters on Sunday afternoon, Howie Roseman primarily took the Marshawn Lynch approach.

Most questions related to the star receiver were met with some repeated form of, “A.J. Brown is a member of the Eagles.” However, on the initial question about where the team stands with Brown, Roseman offered a warning about the line that was impending over the course of his 27-minute session.

“I understand that there’s interest in the A.J. Brown story,” Roseman said. “I, unfortunately, don’t have a home under a rock. But my answer to any question on A.J. Brown is A.J. Brown is a member of the Eagles. From my perspective, anything you ask me about A.J. Brown, I’m going to go right back to that answer. But I understand the interest. I put on TV and I see that there’s interest. But my answer is A.J. Brown’s a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.”

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Roseman issued that refrain twice on an ensuing follow-up question about how a lack of clarity surrounding Brown’s future with the team impacts the construction of the receivers corps this offseason. When pressed for an answer, Roseman voiced his displeasure at the Duke men’s basketball team’s Elite Eight loss to Connecticut moments earlier.

On the third try, Roseman responded with one of his general philosophies on team building.

“Roster construction, from a macro perspective, is going to be based on vision,” Roseman said. “That vision doesn’t change by one particular player.”

True to his word from the outset of the conversation, Roseman didn’t offer much on the topic of Brown beyond the fact that he is on the roster. Still, Brown’s future in Philadelphia — and the reported interest he has garnered from the New England Patriots — has been the focus of the public this offseason.

Roseman’s repetitive approach to questions about Brown differed from his responses ahead of the combine in February. At the time, both Roseman and Nick Sirianni praised Brown, but they didn’t seem willing to rule out any possibilities regarding a trade.

“It’s really hard to find great players,” Roseman said on Feb. 20 when asked if Brown was going to be back in 2026. “I think A.J. is a great player. I think that from my perspective, we’re looking to improve in all areas, and you don’t do that by subtracting.”

He had a general response at the time to a follow-up about listening to offers on Brown: “I think you go into the league year listening to offers for everything and anything. I don’t think that you can go into any conversation with anyone and just shoot things down without hearing what they have to say, because you never know.”

Later in the session on Sunday, Roseman was asked for clarity on a report from Sports Illustrated that detailed Brown’s trade-partner preferences of the Patriots, Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers. Roseman had a familiar response to the question.

“He’s a member of the Eagles,” he said.

Roseman was more revelatory about his moves since the start of the new league year, including his additions of wide receivers Hollywood Brown and Elijah Moore.

Upon reviewing the composition of the room over the last couple of years, Roseman concluded the team needed more depth at the position. In general, he said the receiving corps ought to feature players of different sizes and skill sets. He highlighted the newcomer Brown as one of those players who has the potential to bring something different — yet still familiar — to the third receiver role.

“There have been times on our offense we’ve had, really, that vertical skill set, but also a guy who can separate at the top of his routes,” Roseman said. “And we had that a little. I always look at our teams in ’17, I thought Nelson [Agholor] did a great job of that, bringing that to the team. I think you look in ’22 and Quez [Watkins] did a good job of that. I think the ’24 team was constructed a little bit differently, but I think that really fits the skill set of our quarterback.”

Moore, the 26-year-old journeyman who has spent time with the New York Jets (2021-22), Cleveland Browns (2023-24), and Bills (2025), is a familiar player to the organization. Roseman said the Eagles did “a lot of work” on Moore when he was coming out of Ole Miss in 2021.

The Jets ultimately drafted him in the second round, No. 34 overall. Five years later, Roseman said he still has belief in Moore’s capabilities, even if the receiver hasn’t had the career he envisioned to this point.

One of the more notable details about Moore in the context of the Eagles is that he is close friends with A.J. Brown. However, Roseman refuted the notion that their relationship factored into the decision to add Moore to the team.

“Our roster is viewed from a macro perspective,” Roseman said. “The vision of the team is based on a particular player. So everything that we’re doing is based on the particulars of the player. There’s nothing we’re doing to do favors to you or [senior vice president of communications] Bob [Lange] or Nick or anyone. We’re basing the players based on what they can bring to the team.”

Roseman also pushed back on the idea that the trade for 38-year-old quarterback Andy Dalton spells the end of Tanner McKee’s Eagles career.

While Dalton backed up Bryce Young for the last three seasons with the Carolina Panthers, Roseman said the move was “independent” from how he views McKee, the backup to Jalen Hurts last season. He explained that the team has been familiar with Dalton for a long time.

“A guy that can add a lot, on and off the field,” Roseman said. ”He can still throw it, he still really makes quick decisions."

The Eagles have typically valued keeping three quarterbacks on the roster. Roseman recounted his recent history of depth at the position behind Jalen Hurts, from McKee and Sam Howell in 2025 to Gardner Minshew and Joe Flacco in 2021.

“You’re one injury away from being one injury away, and we take that seriously,” Roseman said. “So we thought it was an opportunity to add somebody that we thought could be additive to our team.”

The Eagles are only on the hook for $1.5 million of Dalton’s contract in 2026, making him a reasonably affordable option at the third quarterback spot.

In theory, Dalton’s experience would give the Eagles some insurance at the backup spot if the Eagles were to trade McKee. But when asked about the potential to capitalize on McKee’s value before he becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2027, Roseman stressed the 25-year-old quarterback’s importance to the team.

“I think our whole goal here is to try to compete this year and to do really well,” Roseman said. “I think that from our perspective, having a guy like Tanner is incredible security for us. The way I think about these three quarterbacks when I go to bed at night, if I know we have three quarterbacks who can play, I sleep better. It’s just how I roll. So from my perspective, Andy, in a vacuum, nothing to do with Tanner.”

Roseman was also asked about the potential for a Hurts extension this offseason, as his cap hit is set to rise to approximately $32 million in 2026, according to Over The Cap. The Eagles general manager declined to discuss the contract situations of any of his players, Hurts included.

While Roseman expressed his excitement at the state of the tight end position currently, he acknowledged the need to continue to add to the position with the draft looming.

That excitement is rooted in the return of Dallas Goedert for his ninth season with the Eagles. After the first week of the new league year, the 31-year-old tight end agreed to return to the team on a one-year, $7 million deal.

“Felt like we were in communication with his agent throughout the process and trying to find what was right for him, what was right for us,” Roseman said. “I think it was really the first time he had an opportunity to go into free agency and see what was out there. But at the same time, he loves Philadelphia. He was telling us throughout the process, if he could, he would love to come back. He felt like, even with the success he had, he had unfinished business. And I’m just really excited to bring him back.”

Goedert, Grant Calcaterra, and E.J. Jenkins are the three familiar faces in the room. But Roseman has also worked to diversity the skill sets among the tight ends, namely in his decision to bring in Johnny Mundt on a one-year deal.

Mundt, 31, has established himself as a depth blocking tight end over the course of his nine-year NFL career spent with the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams (2017-21), the Minnesota Vikings (2022-24), and the Jacksonville Jaguars (2025).

He is well-acquainted with the Shanahan/McVay scheme and the new members of the Eagles offensive coaching staff, playing with Mannion on the Rams and for offensive line coach Chris Kuper on the Vikings.

“Getting a guy like Johnny who has experience in this kind of offense, and you can see him do some of the point of attack stuff that we’re gonna be asking our players to do,” Roseman said. “A great character, high-character guy who a bunch of our coaches knew. It’s funny, because Sean [Mannion] played with some of these guys. So it’s like, ‘I know him as a teammate.”

But Roseman has more work to do at the position. With Goedert under contract for just one year, the Eagles must identify his TE1 heir. This year’s draft class at the position, headlined by Kenyon Sadiq, is heralded for its depth.

“We’ll go into this draft, and obviously [we] want to bring more tight ends to camp that are on the roster right now,” Roseman said. “So we’ll continue to add to that position.”

According to a report from ESPN, Landon Dickerson agreed to a revised contract earlier this month that shaved off a season, keeping him under contract through 2027 instead of 2028.

Dickerson, 27, is set to return for his sixth season with the Eagles. He has dealt with a litany of injuries throughout his football career, recently traveling to Colombia for stem cell therapy to mitigate lingering pain from his ailments.

When asked specifically about his confidence in Dickerson’s long-term health in light of the decision to remove a year from his contract, Roseman responded that he has “extreme confidence” in the player in general.

“I think that when you look at what he’s done over the start of his career, it’s historical, really,” Roseman said. “It’s tremendous. ... He’s been to three Pro Bowls in five years. Three of the first four, it was like five guys in NFL history on the O-line to do that. So just a tremendous player and just feel really lucky to have him on our team.”