Howie Roseman, Nick Sirianni React to "Dangerous" Chauncey Gardner-Phillips

The Eagles GM and coach go into detail about their newest acquistion, including the safety's penchant for trash talking

PHILADELPHIA – Dangerous.

That was the one word Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni used to describe the team’s latest acquisition, safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.

“You have to be careful with him, throwing the ball at him,” said Sirianni. “He's just been around the ball a ton in his career and making plays.”

Gardner-Johnson also plays with a fiery attitude that tends to anger the opponent to point of maybe crossing a line.

“That trash talking, I know he gets the rap for that, but that's part of his competitiveness, and I'd lie if I said I don't trash talk a little bit and I didn't when I played or whatever it is, and like that and do it in practice to raise the level of competition,” said Sirianni.

“I think that's just all a part of it. Guys trash talk all the time in here shooting baskets, out on the field.”

Gardner-Johnson has made most of his plays in the slot during his three seasons with the New Orleans Saints. He has played just 80 snaps at safety, but in today’s position-less NFL, he should be fine adjusting to full-time safety.

“We have a good player in him, there's no doubt,” said Sirianni. “That's our job as coaches, to have a plan, and we do. I think at this point right now, it doesn't benefit us to talk about how we're playing him, where we're playing him, because we're in game plan week right now.

“The fact that he didn't have any snaps here with us is an unknown to Detroit, so we'll keep it that way. But when we get good players in here, it's our job to figure out ways to use them. We've obviously talked about that at depth, and we look forward to having him in here and letting him contribute.”

Gardner-Johnson arrived in his new city on Tuesday night, just hours after being acquired for a fifth-round pick in 2024 and the worse of two sixth-round choices in 2024. He is expected to be on the field when the Eagles practice at 3 p.m. for the first time since chopping their roster from 80 to 53 players on Tuesday.

GM Howie Roseman said the trade came together in about 48 hours.

“You're trying to find teams that have fits for what you're looking for,” he said. “Not that we were unhappy with our defensive backfield or our safety position, but we were looking for opportunities to get better.

"When we looked at New Orleans and the depth that they had on their roster, we thought maybe it would be a fit, and the conversations kind of came together here in the last 48 hours. Excited to add him.”

Roseman said the Eagles looked extensively at him in the 2019 pre-draft process when Gardner-Johnson left Florida. The DB was ultimately a fourth-round pick of the Saints.

“I think from our perspective, we did not feel like he was a fourth-round pick,” the GM said. “He kind of fell a little bit in the draft. He loves football. He has a passion for the game, and he's not afraid to show it.”

Roseman sort of echoed what his coach said about Gardner-Johnson’s penchant for talking trash.

“I think that what coach does with our team is he lets them show their personalities, and he lets them be them,” said Roseman. “I don't think that anything that we found on him is malicious. He just loves to play. I think our fans like that. I know our team does.

“That may frustrate offensive players and receivers at times, but it's all because he has a passion for this game. We like that. That makes practice fun. We'll see if he can compete with (CB Darius) Slay.”

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.