AJ Brown got married, Jalen Hurts wasn’t there, and none of this actually matters

I really hate writing about this. I do. The NFL refuses to let anyone have a quiet offseason. Every week there’s a new story designed to generate clicks and keep the content machine running between May and September. This week it’s AJ Brown’s wedding guest list being dissected like it’s the Zapruder film.

AJ Brown married Kelsey Riley on May 16th at Montage Laguna Beach. Beautiful venue. Congratulations to the happy couple. Instead of talking about the wedding, the entire sports media ecosystem immediately zeroed in on who wasn’t there. Specifically, Jalen Hurts.

The AJ Brown Wedding Guest List Is Not the End of the World

Hurts and Brown have known each other since high school. Hurts is the godfather of Brown’s daughter Jersee. As we all know, he tried recruiting Brown to Alabama so they could play together in college and reportedly pushed for the Eagles to trade for Brown in 2022.

The two have been teammates for four seasons.

Hurts wasn’t at the wedding. I’m seeing a lot of conflicting reports about who was but according to TMZ, neither were any of Brown’s current Eagles teammates. Former Eagles cornerback Darius Slay was there. That’s it for the Philadelphia connection. It’s also one of many reasons why I don’t give a shit at all about the wedding.

I understand why people are reading into this.

The optics aren’t great given the trade rumors that have followed Brown all offseason but I also think a wedding guest list is a terrible barometer for whether two professional athletes want to play football together.

People have complicated personal lives. Schedules conflict. Relationships between coworkers ebb and flow. The idea that Hurts not attending a wedding in Laguna Beach means the Eagles have to trade their best receiver is exactly the kind of overreaction the NFL media machine thrives on.

I Stand on the Side That AJ Brown Won’t Be Traded

I’ve been saying this all offseason and I’m not changing my position. The Eagles would be stupid to trade AJ Brown. He’s elite. He caught the touchdown that helped seal Super Bowl LIX. He’s one of the best receivers in the NFL. The fact that he had a down year statistically in 2025 with 78 catches and 1,003 yards has more to do with the offensive scheme and target distribution than it does with Brown’s ability.

Brown and Hurts don’t want to be best friends anymore? Cool. Not my problem.

I just want to win football games. Whatever it takes. You don’t have to be best friends with your quarterback to run routes and catch touchdowns. Plenty of elite duos in NFL history had complicated relationships off the field and still dominated on Sundays. Make it work.

Figure it out.

The Eagles’ Super Bowl window is open right now and trading away your most physically dominant receiver because of personal friction is organizational malpractice.

AJ Brown admitted on the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast that he and Hurts have had issues. “I’d be sitting up here lying to tell you that we’ve never had any issues. We’re two guys, two alphas, who want to be the best and want to demand greatness from each other and everyone around us. Some reports are true, some reports aren’t true.”

Jalen Hurts said during locker cleanout day that he and AJ Brown talked and they’re “in a great place.” Whether that’s true or PR damage control doesn’t really matter to me. What matters is whether both guys show up in September ready to win football games.

The Trade Rumors Won’t Die

New England has been the rumored destination all offseason because of Brown’s relationship with Mike Vrabel. Now Jason La Canfora is reporting that the Jacksonville Jaguars have entered the conversation.

A league executive told La Canfora that Jacksonville could be “a potential fit” because of Brian Thomas Jr.’s regression from 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns as a rookie to 702 yards and two touchdowns in 2025.

There’s also talk about Travis Hunter potentially playing more cornerback than receiver, which would create a need for a proven veteran wideout in Jacksonville.

A GM monitoring the situation told La Canfora “I still think it’s done before camp.”

If Jacksonville is serious, the Eagles suddenly have leverage with multiple teams interested. The trade package would need to be significant. Thomas Jr. at 23 years old with a cheap contract would be an interesting centerpiece alongside draft capital. He’s younger, cheaper, and could develop into a long-term complement to DeVonta Smith and Makai Lemon.

Here’s my position and it hasn’t changed.

How about the Eagles don’t trade AJ Brown? Wild thought, right? Not to New England. Not to Jacksonville. Not to anyone. The Eagles have a Super Bowl-caliber roster right now with Brown on it.

Trading him makes the team worse in 2026 regardless of what you get back. You can replace his contract value. You cannot replace what he does on the field when the lights are brightest.

About the wedding..

I’m not going to pretend the optics are fine but again, according to TMZ, no current Eagles teammates at the wedding, so like… what are we even talking about?

The trade rumors getting louder every week. Brown’s public frustrations with the offense last season. The ESPN report about a lack of communication between the two stars. The source saying “your stars have to be on the same page and I don’t think they always were.”

Sure, all of that paints a picture that’s hard to ignore even if you want to, I guess.

If it’s all true and the relationship between Brown and Hurts is clearly strained in ways that go beyond normal teammate disagreements, that’s really none of my business. I hope that’s not true and I truly hope it’s fixable is between them.

That said, whether it needs to be fixed for the Eagles to win football games is a different question entirely.

I can’t be more clear that I don’t need them to be friends. I need them to be professionals. If they can coexist on the field and produce at the level they’re both capable of, the personal stuff doesn’t matter.

If the personal stuff has gotten so toxic that it’s affecting on-field performance and locker room chemistry, then the Eagles have a real problem that a trade might eventually solve.

We’re not there yet. Not because of a wedding guest list. The Eagles would be idiots to trade AJ Brown and I’m going to keep saying that until the moment he puts on a different jersey. Which I don’t believe is going to happen.

Make it work. Figure it out. Win football games.

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