What Might Eagles Do Now With CJ Gardner-Johnson Detroit-Bound?

Here's a closer look at three directions GM Howie Roseman could take - free agency, the draft, or a trade

Safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson became the latest Eagles starter to exit stage left via free agency.

He is the fifth starter lost on the defensive side of the ball – CJGJ, Javon Hargrave, T.J. Edwards, Kyzir White, and Marcus Epps - and second on offense – Miles Sanders and Isaac Seumalo.

GM Howie Roseman has done a nice job so far plugging enough holes that he doesn’t enter the draft with a desperate need. Unless you count safety after Gardner-Johnson departed for a one-year contract with the Detroit Lions late Sunday night.

Roseman will find a way to land another safety, probably a veteran free agent to pair with second-year player Reed Blankenship.

Maybe they already have one in Anthony Harris, though his skill set seemed to erode during his last year as a full-time starter in 2021.

Roseman has options in free agency, the draft, and perhaps even in a trade, similar to the blockbuster he pulled off on the opening night of last year’s draft when he landed WR A.J. Brown.

Here’s a closer look at the possibilities:

FREE AGENTS

• Former Eagles seventh-round draft pick Jalen Mills was cut by the Patriots and can play safety.

• Eric Rowe is 30 and a former second-round pick of the Eagles in 2015 as a cornerback. He has since moved to safety. His best seasons were 2019 and 2020 with the Dolphins, but he’s still capable of playing more than half the defensive snaps and playing well enough to potentially help Philly’s secondary.

• Another former Eagle, Rodney McLeod played 40% of the Colts’ defensive snaps, though he turns 33 in June.

• John Johnson is 27 but has started 80 games since being drafted in the third round in 2017 out of Boston College by the Rams.

• Adrian Amos, a former Penn State product who turns 30 next month but is durable, has started 82 straight games dating back to 2017.

• Terrell Edmunds is a former first-round pick who spent the first five years of his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Steady if not spectacular, he has good size at 6-1, 217 pounds.

• Kevin Byard is not yet a free agent, but after he declined to take a pay cut the only team he has ever played with, the Tennessee Titans, might be ready to trade or cut him. Byard’s contract, however, is prohibitive. 

He is scheduled to make more than $13M in the next two seasons with cap hits of $19.6M and $17.8M this year and next. He was born in Philadelphia and spent the first 14 years of his life there before moving away.

DRAFT

Drafting a safety would make the Eagles awfully young on the back end, and whoever it is that gets picked would have to be ready to step in right away or very early in the regular season.

Here are three considered in the top five of their class.

Brian Branch, Alabama. Branch has the versatility to play slot and safety and play either position very well. At 6-0, 190, he was a top-five safety coming out of high school. His player comparison is Minkah Fitzpatrick.

"I feel like if a team utilizes me to blitz a lot, I can blitz,” he said at the NFL Scouting Combine. “If a team wants me to cover their slot receiver in man coverage, I can do that. If a team utilizes me to drop into zone, I can do that as well, and also be back at safety and call the defense, be the quarterback of the defense. I feel like I can do all of that."

Antonio Johnson, Texas A&M. Johnson has good size at 6-2, 198 and has position versatility like Branch, having played the slot, and free and strong safety.

“I feel like it prepared me very well because I don't have a set title to my name,” he said at the Combine. “It opens a lot of doors for me, places teams can put me at. I feel that’s one of my strengths. Teams look for players they can keep on the field in different packages without having to sub. “

His player comparison is Kyle Dugger.

Sydney Brown, Illinois. Everyone loves Illini CB Devon Witherspoon, but Brown shouldn’t be overlooked. Per NFL Media, he is the best athlete in the safety class, though his size (5-10, 211) might take him off some draft boards.

He was a team captain who had six interceptions in 12 games last season.

TRADE

Not sure if Eric Murray excites many as a blockbuster, but the former fourth-round pick in 2016 was a key part of the Texans’ defense in 2020 and 2021. He found himself on special teams most of last season behind rookie Jalen Pitre and Jonathan Owens but is signed through this season on a base salary of $1.6 million.

Regarding blockbusters, pay attention to how the rest of the offseason unfolds at the position.

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.eaglestoday.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.