Key Points
- Eagles advisor Dom DiSandro debunked the A.J. Brown-Jalen Hurts rift theory.
- He called the online narrative "complete and utter, bupkis," per Mike Garafolo.
- Brown was traded to the Patriots for 2028 first- and 2027 fifth-round picks.
- DiSandro said Brown left for reasons unrelated to what's circulating online.
The Philadelphia Eagles traded A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots, and the internet immediately decided it knew why: a falling-out between Brown and quarterback Jalen Hurts. Dom DiSandro — the Eagles' senior security advisor, known around the league simply as "Big Dom" — went on the record to kill that theory. "That story is complete and utter, bupkis," DiSandro said, per NFL Network's Mike Garafolo. "There is no truth to that."
What Big Dom said
DiSandro was adamant the Brown-Hurts rift narrative is fiction, and that Brown's departure came "for reasons that have nothing to do with what's circulating online." He drew a contrast with Haason Reddick, another recent Eagles exit, whose move he framed plainly: Reddick "wanted a huge payday." The implication is that Brown's reasons were real and specific — just not the soap opera fans had scripted.
Why the theory took hold
The vacuum was easy to fill. Brown's 2025 season was a running source of friction: pointed social-media posts, visible frustration with his role, and a now-infamous sideline exchange with head coach Nick Sirianni during a playoff loss. Pair that with a star receiver and franchise quarterback who had reached two Super Bowls together and won one, and a clean trade to New England reads, to a certain kind of fan, like the end of a marriage. The deal itself — Philadelphia got a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth, per ESPN — only fed the speculation.
That a team's security chief, not its general manager or PR staff, is the one batting down the rumor is its own kind of signal: the Eagles wanted a credible, no-spin voice to shut it down. But a denial without an alternative explanation rarely settles anything. DiSandro says the real reasons have nothing to do with the online chatter. Until someone says what they are, the chatter wins by default.
Source: NBC Sports
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