March 9, 2026
Editor’s note: As I write this on Monday morning, A.J. Brown is still an Eagle, but the situation is fluid. At any moment, Howie Roseman could be putting the finishing touches on the worst mistake in his long tenure as Eagles GM. If the trade happens, I will post my response in a separate blog entry.
Eagles fans are waiting in earnest for the most important question of the offseason — the status of malcontent wide receiver A.J. Brown — to be answered in the next few days.
Hello? What’s to decide? The guy is the most talented WR in team history, he has a Super Bowl ring and he’s signed for four more seasons.
My verdict: he stays.
Duh.
Now, there’s always a chance that someone like New England comes along and offers a deal so good, there’s no choice but to send him packing. But the bounty in return ultimately would have to provide a player as impactful as Brown is. Good luck with that.
I know, I know. But A.J. is not happy. What should the Eagles do about that?
Absolutely nothing. I don’t give a damn whether Brown — or any player, in any sport — is happy, nor should the Eagles. Brown will be averaging close to $30 million a year in the four years left on his contract. If financial security for him and the next three generations in the Brown family is not enough to make him smile, too bad.
And let’s not forget the fact that, in Nick Sirianni, the Birds have someone who supposedly has mastered the art of clubhouse culture. If the head coach cannot keep one of his best weapons productive, regardless of the happiness quotient, then exactly what purpose does Sirianni serve?
We all know by now that Nick is not good at play-calling, at late-game strategy, at sideline demeanor, at news conferences and at anything involving the defense.
If he also can’t handle this situation, Sirianni should be the one to go, not Brown.
This obsession with having happy players has always perplexed me. In all the different jobs I had in the media over half a century, nobody ever asked me if I was happy. (Usually I was not, by the way,) I still did the best I could. It’s called being a professional.
There is one other factor that no one seems to be considering as the trade rumors persist this winter. Brown’s dissatisfaction is a direct result of the fact that former offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo didn’t know how to call plays last season. Why would I ever get rid of such a talented player after a botched season like 2025?
Life after Patullo should brighten Brown’s spirits. And if it doesn’t, who gives a damn? Ultimately, my bet is Brown’s massive ego wouldn’t allow him to play at anything less than his full capability. He’s still going to win most 50-50 balls, and he’s still going to finish the season with over 1,000 yards and double-figure touchdowns.
If any of this is a problem for him, he can sit there on the sidelines and squander a year of his NFL career and $30 mill or so. Of course, bravado aside, he will not do that. He will play. He is addicted to the roar of the crowd.
And until someone comes along who can do it better, A.J. Brown should be catching passes in Philadelphia.
The immediate future of the Eagles depends on it.
How much is too much? How many injuries, phantom or real, will it take for the 76ers to surrender to the reality that Joel Embiid will never win anything here?
Is his current oblique strain the final straw? Or will it take another knee problem, or a back issue, or yet one more injury to his feet, or his shoulder, or his face?
At what point will the Sixers admit the undeniable truth, that Embiid is a tease who will never deliver the championship(s) that four years of tanking was supposed to bring?
If not now, when will owner Joshua Harris, GM Daryl Morey and, yes, even long-forgotten ex-GM Sam Hinkie finally admit the Process was a spectacular failure?
That’s six questions in a row, all with the same answer.
The time is now. The moment is at hand to find another sucker to absorb some of Embiid’s remaining money. His so-called Process era is over, and so should be his tortured tenure in Philadelphia.
Whether the Sixers are ready to admit the truth yet or not, Joel Embiid will be forever known as the half-a-billion-dollar mistake. That’s right. Billion with a b. When his bloated contract runs out in 2029, he will have received $514 million for his 13 seasons of underachievement.
All of these thoughts were running through my mind when I watched the Celtics dismantle the Sixers last week, even though Boston was without its best player, Jayson Tatum. Of course, Embiid was also on the sideline with an oblique strain caused by a collision against Miami on Feb. 26.
Embiid left the court after some hard contact with Khalil Weir, but — true to his love for drama — Joel returned to wince and hobble through the rest of the game. Then the Sixers announced he would miss at least the next three games.
It will be much longer than that, of course. Obliques never heal in a week, and Embiid has missed more time with the sniffles. Already, the Sixers are pushing back the timeline at least another week. I’d wager it’ll be closer to a month on the sidelines this time, moving his percentage of games played this season below .500.
When he does come back, Joel will do what he always does — play a few good games, rack up some stats, and then flop again early in the playoffs. Eventually he will blame everything and everyone but himself for the latest failure. And then he’ll pocket his $55 million for the current season and still find a way to depict himself as a victim.
He is no victim. If anything, he’s lucky he got to Philadelphia long after sports journalism had gone on permanent hiatus here. As a lonely voice in the media wilderness, all I can do is cut through the noise and speak some indisputable truths.
Joel Embiid is the biggest bust in Philadelphia sports history, unless you can name someone else who cost half a billion dollars and never even made it to a conference final.
Embiid is also the most fragile superstar in the city’s history. If the greatest ability of all, as the saying goes, is availability, Joel is a disappointment like no one who has come before him. He has missed 480 games in the first 10 seasons as a pro. He has played in 485.
The simple truth is, the Sixers built the current team on a foundation made of tissue paper. They sacrificed four seasons for someone with bruises on every part of him, including his ego.
How many more seasons do the Sixers need to endure before there is no doubt about what they need to do?
I have the answer to that seventh question.
None.
Some questions no one is asking . . . .
* So now we’re being told that Nick Sirianni wasn’t sure what he wanted in a new offensive coordinator until Sean Mannion came along and won the Eagles job. This surprising admission exposes a pretty serious problem with Sirianni, no? After five seasons running the Eagles, the coach still didn’t know what kind of OC was right for the talent on his team? Seriously?
* Dallas Goedert had a terrific season under awful OC Kevin Patullo, but now he has to face more nickel-and-dime scrutiny over what his value is to the Eagles. I don’t get it. He is a top-ten tight-end, a decent blocker and an overall good citizen. But it’s not enough? Howie Roseman is smart at many positions, but the GM has a blind spot when it comes to tight ends. Is there anyone who doesn’t want Goedert back?
* Many people proclaimed the NBC Throwback Night a big success last week despite a massive blowout of the Sixers by the Spurs. Yes, it was cool to see the old NBC announcers, graphics and old-school approach. But the truth is, when the home team is down 50 points, it’s really not a game at all, regardless of the trappings. As Doc Rivers often said, that game was a “scheduled loss,” including for NBC. Is there one person reading this right now who watched that entire game? One?
* No GM, at least in my experience, has enjoyed less critical scrutiny than Danny Briere. This week marks the third year he has served as the roster architect of the Flyers, and he has not gotten a sniff of the playoffs so far. The trade deadline just passed with him doing very little to help a team six points out of a postseason berth. Every year, he seems to kick the can down the road, implying better things ahead. When? Ever?
* After expressing countless times his love and devotion to Philadelphia, Bryce Harper said last week that he probably would have taken the contract offer by San Francisco in 2018 if Giants manager Bruce Bochy hadn’t announced that he was retiring soon. Huh? So it wasn’t the $330 million, the beautiful ballpark, the likable owner or the passionate fans? Hmmm. I hate to be critical, but that wasn’t exactly an elite comment by Harper, was it?