Julian Edelman sees A.J. Brown as the kind of receiver the Patriots have not had in years, and he thinks Josh McDaniels will waste no time putting that to use. Edelman said Brown is a real 1A and called him the sort of pass-catcher New England has probably not had since Randy Moss.
That is why Brown keeps drawing attention now. He arrived in New England earlier in the summer and is expected to be the featured pass-catcher for Drake Maye in Foxborough during the 2026 season, a role that already has people trying to map out how the Patriots will divide targets with Romeo Doubs also in the mix. Edelman said Maye is taking control out there and has a lot more weapons around him, including the new tight end Eli Raridon, but Brown is the name that changes the ceiling of the offense.
Edelman pointed to McDaniels as the reason Brown could have a massive year. He said McDaniels is a very creative offensive coordinator who knows how to get focal points of an offense the ball. Edelman also said his own first year being featured produced 105 catches, then added that he expects McDaniels to move Brown into a whole bunch of different spots. That kind of usage matters for a receiver like Brown, who has topped 1,000 receiving yards in six of his seven full NFL seasons and has already stacked up three All-Pro nods.
Brown’s track record gives the hype real weight. He helped the Eagles reach two trips to the Super Bowl over four years and finished that run with 5,034 yards and 32 touchdowns in 62 games. For the Patriots, the comparison to Moss is not nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake; it is a marker for what a true top-tier receiver can do when the system is built to feed him.
Even Brown sounds sold on the setup, but there is still plenty for him to learn. Last week, he said McDaniels is incredible and is making his job a lot easier, adding that the coach is creating matchups for him and moving him around. Brown said McDaniels has been in this offense for like 25 years and has a check for every little thing the defense throws at you, which is a positive. That is the promise and the catch: the Patriots may be loaded with options, but Brown is still taking in a lot of information before the first snap of 2026.
For New England, the next real test is not whether the talent is there. It is whether McDaniels can turn Brown, Doubs and the rest of the group into a passing game that looks as dangerous on the field as it does on paper. If he does, Brown may be the player who makes the whole thing look familiar to anyone who remembers how McDaniels used to feed elite receivers before.
