Eagles trade their 2022 interceptions leader to the Houston Texans
The Houston Texans have seemingly pulled off one of the better trades this year as they sent offensive lineman Kenyon Green to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for top safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson. This trade also includes the teams swapping draft picks. The Eagles get a 2025 fifth-round pick, whereas the Texans receive a 2026 sixth-round pick.
This trade news came somewhat as a surprise for the former Eagles’ safety as he thought it was some sort of an April Fool’s joke on him. After the news broke out, Gardner-Johnson made his views clear on the phone call he received from Eagles GM Howie Roseman, stating:
“I ain’t gon lie to y’all…I thought it was April Fools. It wasn’t no love lost. It was no bad blood…it was a great phone call…It was an amazing phone call to be all the way through…Situation is, the young guys gotta get paid in Philly, Jaylen Carter, Reed (Blankenship), Zack (Baun)…all them guys gotta get their money, they deserve it, you know me getting older so I gotta understand like it was no bad blood…”
Having come off a Super Bowl win with the Eagles, Gardner-Johnson only requested to be traded to a team where he could play winning football. The Houston Texans are on the rise and have a quality team that can make a deep playoff push this year provided they fix some of their weaknesses, especially on the offensive line.
Defensively, the Texans are already one of the better teams in the league. Led by a defensive-minded head coach, DeMeco Ryans, has put together a strong unit with Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. leading the way up front. The Texans’ secondary also boasts quality with Derek Stingley Jr. and Kamari Lassiter at the corner positions.
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The addition of Gardner-Johnson to the mix will put Houston’s secondary in the top 5 of the league. The former Eagles safety is known to be a ballhawk of sorts having pulled off 6 interceptions and 12 pass deflections last season while performing similarly in 2022 where he once again had 6 picks and 8 pass deflections.
In addition to these three, 2024 rookie safety Calen Bullock, also performed admirably last season, picking off 5 passes and coming up with 10 pass deflections in just his first year in the NFL. Overall, this trade should have Texans fans excited to see their new secondary in action.
Losing a key piece of their secondary will no doubt be a struggle to overcome for Philadelphia. However, the Eagles still have a strong core of players who are young and driven for further success. Philadelphia also has good depth which shouldn’t be much of a concern.
The other aspect of the trade is that Philly received offensive lineman Kenyon Green who could potentially be seen as a starter in the future. The Eagles tend to have a strong O-line as part of their gameplan, and Green could develop into a quality lineman with great mentorship from the likes of Lane Johnson, Landon Dickerson, and Mekhi Becton.
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