Neither the Patriots nor the Rams have gotten what they paid for in their June 1 trades for wide receiver A.J. Brown and defensive end Myles Garrett, respectively.

As we approach the midway point of the season, New England is 5–3 and, while quarterback Drake Maye has returned to his 2025 form after a slow start to the year, the Patriots have yet to look like the team that won the AFC East and reached the Super Bowl last season. Los Angeles, meanwhile, was supposed to be the NFL’s next super team this season thanks, in part, to deals for both Garrett and cornerback Trent McDuffie, but sits at just 4–4 and is currently on the outside looking in of the NFC’s playoff picture.

The NFL’s 2026 trade deadline is just a week away, making now a good time to revisit the deals that shaped this past offseason, even if it may be too early to put the final stamp of approval—or, perhaps more accurately, disapproval—on them.

Let’s re-grade the A.J. Brown and Myles Garrett trades from earlier this year.

A.J. Brown trade re-grade: Patriots’ wide receiver room has somehow gotten worse in 2026

After sending a 2028 first-round pick and a ’27 fifth-rounder to the Eagles for Brown this spring, the Patriots found themselves with quite a receiver duo. New England had just signed former Packers pass-catcher Romeo Doubs to a four-year, $68 million deal in free agency, and pairing the two seemed like an upgrade over the Stefon Diggs-Kayshon Boutte tandem that propelled Maye to an MVP-caliber season in 2025.

So far, it’s been far from that.

Just after halftime of his Patriots debut—New England’s Week 1 matchup against the Seahawks—Seattle defender Nehemiah Pritchett rolled up on Brown while Brown was reaching for a low throw on a slant from Maye. The wide receiver didn’t return to the game, was diagnosed with a high ankle sprain and subsequently headed to injured reserve.

Brown then missed the minimum four games required of players placed on IR, but returned in mid-October for the Patriots’ Week 6 matchup against the Jets. The timing of his return was interesting. New England had a seemingly winnable game against a struggling New York team in front of them before facing the Bears on a short week the following Thursday. Still, Brown suited up anyway, and that decision may have backfired.

It’s no secret that Brown has dealt with a degenerative knee issue throughout his career, and those concerns seemed to bubble up last week. After being spotted at Patriots practice last Wednesday ahead of their Week 8 game against the Dolphins, Brown was listed as a limited participant in the session with both ankle and knee injuries. The wide receiver then missed New England’s final two practices of the week, did not make the team’s trip to Miami and was officially ruled out on Saturday.

As such, the 29-year-old has hauled in just nine catches for 101 yards on 20 targets, and has failed to score a touchdown over three games played.

Add in Diggs’s five scores through six games with the Commanders and the Patriots’ decision to trade Boutte to the Texans after seemingly believing they had an embarrassment of riches at wide receiver, and it’s clear that, even as they sit at just 2–6 to begin the year, the Eagles are the winners of this deal. Philadelphia not only moved on from Brown, whose volatile personality had run its course in The City of Brotherly Love, but also landed two draft picks of New England’s over the next two years—including an always-valuable first-rounder.

Grades:

Patriots: D-
Eagles: A

Myles Garrett trade re-grade: Rams have gotten nothing out of their star defensive end

This one may be even easier to grade than the Brown deal, as Garrett, like the wide receiver, was injured in his first game with his new team. The difference? The Rams still haven’t gotten their superstar back.

After acquiring Garrett from the Browns in exchange for Cleveland’s 2027 first-round pick, ’28 second-round pick, ’29 third-round pick and defensive end Jared Verse, the Rams eased the defensive end into training camp as he dealt with what was described as “lower-body soreness.” Still, even after he missed three consecutive practices at one point this summer, Los Angeles brought Garrett along for its 15,000-mile trip to Australia to take on the 49ers in their Week 1 contest at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Garrett would go on to play 62% of the Rams’ defensive snaps in his debut, but—just months after breaking the NFL’s sack record, closing out one of the more dominant seasons in NFL history—the 30-year-old failed to log a tackle, quarterback hit, or sack while generating just three pressures.

“This was the worst version of myself that I’ve put out there,” Garrett said after the 27–7 loss. “I’ve got to be better. I’ve got to find a way to recover and get back to the player I know I can be, and I’ve shown that I’ve been before.”

Just days later, Garrett was placed on injured reserve and underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. He hasn’t returned to the Rams’ lineup since.

While Los Angeles is reportedly optimistic about getting Garrett back to practice this week, his appearance in just one game makes it difficult to call this trade anything but a loss for the Rams so far. On the flip side, even as Verse has struggled to begin his first season with the Browns, he’s still just 25 years old with two Pro Bowls under his belt and plenty of football still ahead of him. Cleveland also now owns picks of the Rams in three consecutive drafts, all of which could become increasingly valuable if Los Angeles continues to struggle and their championship window continues to close.

Good job, Andrew Berry. You won this one in a landslide, at least so far.

Grades:

Rams: F
Browns: A+