A.J. Brown walked off the field with his head down in shock as the Cincinnati Bengals celebrated their 19-16 victory over the Tennessee Titans in the divisional round of the playoffs last season. The last time Brown left Nissan Stadium was when he joined theTitans. Brown's departure to the Philadelphia Eagles via a trade Thursday is something not many would have predicted at the end of the season. Jon Robinson is not the general manager. Not the coach. Brown was moved for the 18th and 101st picks. The 18th pick was used on Arkansas receiver Treylon Burks. How did a player who was the cornerstone of the franchise not be traded as long as he was the head coach? The split between Brown and the Titans is complicated. Brown refused to take part in voluntary summer activities because he was not going to sign a contract extension until he had a contract extension. There are two sides to a story. The final year of Brown's contract was set to pay him around $4 million. Even though his receiving yards were a career low, they accounted for 23% of his receiving yards. The receiver market exploded this year. Brown wanted to be paid like a top receiver in the league. I wanted my work to be appreciated. Brown said when he was introduced as an Eagle that he was one of the top guys in the league. I am confident in how I play and what I bring to the table. According to Brown, the deal theTitans offered him averaged $16 million per season with incentives that would have pushed the annual average to $20 million. The deal they offered was a low one, according to Brown. The offer was not even $20 million a year. If they offered me $22 million, I would have stayed. Brown thanked the team for drafting him to get his career started. Preliminary contract negotiations began in early March for an extension of Brown's contract. Robinson showed a time line at the owner's meetings later in the month. Robinson said that they are just trying to get through the free-agency period. Robinson gushed about Brown's work ethic and said the fourth-year receiver is about what they're about. Sources in Brown's camp and within theTitans said that negotiations were going well. The sweet spot was going to be in the $20 million range. The market exploded after Kirk. His camp made it clear that a new deal was the only way he would be on the field. I'm a diva and a bad teammate all of sudden, lol ok. Do what you have to do then and so will I The team source said that the demand motivated the team to speed up their process. A team source said that theTitans offered Brown an extension that averaged $20 million per season. The team believed it was fair because it had a higher average salary than Kirk and was in line with other teams. The counteroffer from Brown's team was more than double the amount of guarantees. Robinson said after the first day of the draft that he dealt with the representatives there. Three weeks before the draft, Brown requested a trade and cut off all contact with the team, according to a team source. The Eagles saw their opportunity and were watching the situation. Robinson said that there were a couple teams that called, and that they showed the most interest. Brown got the deal he wanted, agreeing to a four year, $100 million contract with $57.2 million in guarantees. The trade was contingent on Brown agreeing to a contract extension. Roseman called Hurts to ask if he could help seal the deal and speed up the process. Hurts tried to recruit Brown out of high school to join him at Alabama, but Brown stayed in-state at Ole Miss. There is a look at A.J. Brown and theTitans.
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Titans' side
Eagles GM weighs in
In his news conference, Brown said that he and Hurts talked earlier in the day, but that he was trying to keep his emotions out of it.
Roseman said they were trying to balance finishing that and making sure they got the right players.
The deal was very close to the wire. Roseman and Brown's camp struck a deal. When the Eagles were on the clock, it was necessary to get it done by pick 18. Roseman was seen coming in and out of the draft room leading up to the pick, and then going into a private room to work on a deal.
The hardest part was trying to balance it all and the timing that was going on and trying to be fair to the TITANS.
A lot of credit goes to A.J. and his agents for getting this deal done, because we didn't have a lot of time to do it. It came about quickly here.
Losing Brown means quarterback Ryan Tannehill is now without his top target.
Brown had at least 1,000 receiving yards in two of their three seasons together.
It hurt, Tannehill said of Brown. It hurt. A.J. is a good friend. It's going to be hard not being able to see him on a daily basis. I am happy that he got what he wanted.
The same kind of sturdy, yards-after- catch receiver as Brown was drafted by theTitans.
The more we watched the film, the more we realized that he did a lot of things that we like and for that position.
At the combine, he applied a lot of aspects from Brown's game to his own. The opportunity to show what he has learned against Brown will now be given to him.
The Eagles will face the Titans at Lincoln Financial Field. Although they won't be on the field at the same time, they can show why they're a player theTitans are counting on to help continue their physical passing game.
Tim McManus is a reporter for the Philadelphia Eagles.
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