Following months and months of speculation, A.J. Brown is, finally, a New England Patriot.Brown was traded by the Eagles on Monday in a long-anticipated deal that reunites the three-time Pro Bowler with Patriots coach Mike Vrabel. The Eagles received a 2028 first-round pick and a ‘27 fifth-round pick in exchange for Brown.Shortly after the blockbuster trade went down, Brown shared an emotional message thanking the Eagles and the city of Philadelphia for supporting him over the last four up-and-down years. “This city, this locker room, and this fan base will always hold a special place in my heart,” Brown wrote on Instagram.A day later, an exclusive interview with Brown and NBC Sports’s Maria Taylor was released on YouTube, in which the ex-Eagles star got extremely honest about leaving Philly. Among the topics discussed: Brown's rumored strained relationship with Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, which became a bit of an unwanted national storyline during the team’s struggles last season.Brown was asked point-blank how he would describe his relationship with Hurts right now, and he admitted the two had grown apart.“Uh,” Brown said, taking a lengthy pause. “Not as close as we once were. And I believe that’s fine. It’s like there’s no bad blood, there’s actually still a lot of love. I love him. I love him to death. I want him to succeed and accomplish all the things that he wants to accomplish.“I didn’t truly understand why our friendship became the center of everybody’s attention when it came to football because looking back on it, you know, we haven’t been as close as we were a couple years now. But that didn’t stop anything. We still competed, we still pushed each other, we still led the team. So it was just kind of strange people just got so fixated on the relationship... but that wasn’t what this was. I’m gonna say it to you, I’m gonna say it on camera: I got nothing but love for him.”When probed further as to why exactly Brown and Hurts grew less close over the years, Brown chalked it up to two friends growing apart.“Nothing happened,” Brown clarified. “Nothing happened. People just grow apart. Nothing happened between me and him or our families, wives, anything. ... Life happens, and you just look up sometimes and you just find yourself drifting away, and that’s fine. And I think both parties accepted that.”Everything A.J. Brown said about getting traded to PatriotsBack when Brown joined the Eagles in 2022, he and Hurts were considered one of the league’s best QB-WR duos both on and off the field. But cracks started to show in their relationship early on, with Brown looking visibly frustrated during a sideline spat with his quarterback in Week 2 of the 2023 campaign. The following season, as Brown took his grievances with the Eagles’ offense public, Brandon Graham escalated things further by speculating that there was a growing rift between Brown and Hurts.Even after the Eagles’ Super Bowl win in 2024, Brown didn’t seem all that happy about winning the Lombardi, as evidenced by a social media post following the 40-22 Chiefs blowout.In Tuesday's interview, the newly minted Pats wideout explained what changed for him and the Eagles following their banner year:“I think the expectations that we placed upon ourselves became too much,” Brown told Taylor (the Eagles notoriously refused to even mention the word “repeat” after their Super Bowl win). “You have to understand this city, this city expects you to win every single year, and rightfully so. That’s what we work for. The expectations that we drilled in our brain, it’s like, ‘We have to win, we have to win, we have to win.’“... Things just kind of started to go left and you’re just like, ‘Man we need to fix this, we need to fix that.’ We just started pressing as a team, and you know the noise that come with it. ... We said all year we’re not defending nothing, but we are, we were.”Brown also admitted he didn’t handle the Eagles’ season struggles in the best way possible, alluding to the multiple instances he expressed his frustrations about the offense via cryptic social media posts and in simmering locker room interviews.“Especially the ones on social media, that was just wrong. And me taking accountability for that,” Brown said. “... It’s always that one guy in the locker room who pushes guys and holds people accountable, and that was me. And I didn’t mind being viewed as whatever picture was painting me out to be, because my teammates knew that I had my back.”Brown went on to explain that there was no single moment during the Eagles’ 11-6 campaign last season that made him want out—he simply realized at the end of the year that his “time was up.”The one-time Super Bowl champ, who turns 29 later this June, will now get a fresh start in New England with the reigning AFC champions, who have high aspirations of their own after reaching the Super Bowl in Drake Maye’s second season. More NFL from Sports IllustratedAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow