Patriots' A.J. Brown, Milton Williams Share Same Trade Status

Jul 17, 2026 - 02:20

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Patriots' A.J. Brown, Milton Williams Share Same Trade Status originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The New England Patriots have a star-studded roster, one that has a lot of perceived value across the NFL.

That's an obvious takeaway of a new article on ESPN.com by Bill Barnwell, who examines the trade cost of a number of different players on the Pats' roster.

Barnwell lists, for example, that Drake Maye would cost six first-round picks in a theoretical trade -- which is second only to Josh Allen of the Bills (seven first-rounders).

The analyst puts Christian Gonzalez, the stud cornerback, as being worth two first-round picks.

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For left tackle Will Campbell, he goes with "one first-round pick and more" as the value.

After that, Barnwell lists two other Pats as being worth, simply, "one first-round pick."

That pair is WR A.J. Brown and DT Milton Williams.

The Patriots just traded for Brown from the Philadelphia Eagles, so he won't be dealt again anytime soon, but his value is clear.

"Brown was just dealt for a first-round pick, of course," Barnwell sums up simply.

MORE: What would Drake Maye cost in a trade?

He goes deeper on Williams, who also isn't a trade candidate but would be a viable one.

"Williams became one of the highest-paid defenders when the Patriots outbid the Panthers for him in free agency," Barnwell writes. "While he had never really been a full-time starter up to that point, he excelled in his debut season with the Pats. The contract would be onerous, but again, we've seen teams line up to add impact defensive linemen over the past 12 months. Williams is firmly in that category now."

Williams is one of the recent offseason wins for the Patriots, and a big under-the-radar reason they made it all the way to the Super Bowl.

They aren't expected to make any dramatic trades before the season, but just this assessment of the talented players on the roster makes it clear that expectations should rightly be high again this season in New England.