They certainly could. I load a 10 gauge with 1 1/2 of shot (656 grains) and 4 1/2 drams (122 grains) of 3F black powder. This load has a muzzle velocity of about 1300 fps. Using a energy calculator (
https://www.beartoothbullets.com/rescources/calculators/php/energy.htm) this load has an muzzle energy of 2,462 lbs.
A Brown Bess uses about a .715 ball (550 grains). You would need to push that ball at about 1431 fps to reach 2,500 foot-pounds of energy. I don't know what the powder charge would be for that, probably somewhere in the 130-150 grain range of powder. Certainly a very stout charge, but not astronomical.
So yes, it is very possible, but I would certainly only want to shoot that in a gun that was specifically built to handle it. The recoil would be, shall we say, unpleasant.
