We are 2 weeks away from training camp and about 8 weeks from the regular season. It’s time to take a look at what the Eagles did on their spring vacation and see how the Super Bowl Champions look on their quest to repeat. I wanted to do this as one big article, but damn football is complicated. The series will run in parts all week addressing:
[UPDATE: The Eagles have also traded for John Metchie and Sam Howell]
CJ Gardner-Johnson Traded to Houston
CJGJ has now been a part of two Eagles Super Bowl teams and has been sent packing afterwards both times. Last time he was simply not resigned, but this offseason he was traded to Houston for Kenyon Green and a swap of 2026 late round picks. The details surrounding his departure this time are murky at best. He was on a reasonable contract and picked off 6 passes for a secondary that wasn’t causing turnovers most of the year. So, what happened?
Details from an ex-girlfriend named Summer Bunni (sorry, too good not to include) came out yesterday that he had put a “hit” out on Malik Nabors of the NY Giants. I don’t know how serious that is, but I’m hoping that no Eagles players were trying to hurt Nabors. The Eagles may have known about this nonsense early and let him go.
More likely, they were just trying to get ahead of a looming contract problem. Howie Roseman has an unofficial credo that you pay the great players, not the good ones. CJGJ is a good one who he was basically forced to pay the previous offseason because the team was so light at safety. After winning a Super Bowl and seeing the safety market explode, you better believe CJGJ was going to be looking to extend his current deal. He denies the new contract speculation, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t in the air.1
Even if you don’t want to believe the new contract explanation, everyone should be aware of what is coming this offseason: extensions for Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith. These are going to be MONSTER deals that have the Eagles pinching every penny. By trading CJGJ now, we didn’t gain any financial freedom this season, but we do save $6m next year. Had we waited, it would have gotten worse.
Andrew Mukuba, and probably not Sydney Brown, will be expected to step into the now vacant safety role next to Reed Blankenship. The second round pick out of Texas is known for being a smart player who is always in the right spot. Yes please. Him showing out in camp would certainly be a welcome development.
My only fear is that CJGJ brings something special to the table in terms of his attitude. He is a certified A-hole, but he was our A-hole. Sometimes you need one of those. There will certainly be a personality gap on the defense that needs filling.
Oh yeah, Green. Almost forgot about him. He is a former first round pick that had been left to rot in Houston on a notoriously bad offensive line. All signs point to Green basically being the same guy who was drafted 3 years ago that still needs some serious coaching to go with his god-given tools. Well, he came to the right place. This seems to be a lot like the Mekhi Becton situation last offseason where the Eagles are taking a low risk, high upside bet on pedigree and Jeff Stoutland. If it doesn’t work, that’s fine too. The Browns are paying about half his already low salary too because Howie just can’t help himself.
Bryce Huff Traded to San Francisco
Two things can be true when it comes to Bryce Huff. First, he was absolutely dreadful from the start for the Eagles, never improved from there, and had to be traded. Second, he will undoubtedly be much better for the 49ers next year to the point where people are laughing at us for getting rid of him. Be prepared.
The biggest move of last offseason was signing Huff to his 3/$51m deal in free agency. He went from huge pass rushing upside to not dressing in the Super Bowl. Woof. I was sure that the only way we would be able to get off his contract was by attached a mid-round pick to him. Somehow, Howie Roseman turned that total sunk cost into receiving a mid-round pick. Astonishing.
Wait, how did he do that? Through some odd salary cappery, the teams converted his guaranteed bonus into salary (it’s almost always done the opposite way) and split the cost for this season. By doing this, his 2025 cap hit of $7.5m lowers to around $5m but he still comes with a $16.5m hit next year even though he’s gone. THAT’S FINE! How is that fine? Because had he stayed, he would have counted as $27m against the cap the following year!!! Instead, it will be ZERO. As mentioned earlier, we will need that space.
For anyone wondering why on Earth we gave him that money in the first place knowing extensions were coming up, well you just got a window into the organizations thinking on Nolan Smith at the time. To put it simply, they thought he was a bust. Not only was Huff going to be necessary for the pass rush, but only Carter would have been the one needing the extension next year. That has obviously changed.
Kenny Pickett Traded to Cleveland
Last season, the Eagles traded with Pittsburgh to secure Pickett, basically swapping the 98th pick in the draft for the 120th. Pickett fulfilled a childhood dream of being on an Eagles Super Bowl team, but wasn’t exactly impressive in his fill-ins for Jalen Hurts. Still, Howie managed to get a 5th round pick and Dorian Thompson-Robinson for him from the Browns.
But if he was a solid backup, then why did we get rid of him? Quarterback is the single most valuable position in sports. Even a backup can make solid money and could convince a new franchise to give up serious value after a few games in place of a starter. Well, the Eagles obviously have their starter in Jalen Hurts. Knowing that, every few years they are able to draft a late round QB and develop him into, first, a competent backup and, second, a valuable trade chip. Previous generations did this with Kevin Kolb and AJ Feeley, but Howie is really putting fuel into the Quarterback Factory. Tanner McKee was drafted two years ago, was good enough to be the primary backup this year, and looks like a future 2nd round pick waiting to happen. This draft, it was local boy and former Ohio state recruit Kyle McCord who went in the 6th round. He will be getting third string reps and you can pencil him in as next year’s backup already.
The move also freed up $2.5m in cap space.
Draft Gains
The NFL Draft article coming later this week is going to be long enough as it is, so let’s cover the ins and outs here. Essentially, the Eagles picked up a few extra picks this year and an extra 5th from Atlanta next year.
- By trading up for Jihaad Campbell, the Eagles sent #164 (5th) to Kansas City
- Traded #96 (3rd) to Atlanta for #101 overall) and a 2026 fifth-round pick
- Traded #101 (3rd) and #134 (4th) to Denver for #111 (4th) and #130 (4th) and #191 (6th)
- Traded #130 (4th) to the Jets for #145 (5th) and #207 (6th)
- Inferior safeties like Javon Holland and Trevon Moehrig are now making a significant amount more than CJGJ. He can deny it, but it is what it is. That situation was not going to stay the same. ↩︎
Philly Front Office 
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