In the two short years he has been with the Philadelphia Eagles, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson was not just a leader in the secondary but one of the better safeties the team has had in recent years.
While the team brought Gardner-Johnson back after losing him in 2023, the Super Bowl champions have always understood the importance of having him on the roster.
That's what made trading him to the Houston Texans so difficult this offseason. Philadelphia shipped the safety to Houston for Kenyon Green and a pick swap to clear up cap space for the future.
And the future alone is a big focus for the team moving forward.
"We're in such a situation right now where we have to make tough decisions, and because of where we are, we have to make some priorities," general manager Howie Roseman said.
Speaking at league owner meetings, Roseman made it clear that there was nothing toxic about moving on from Gardner-Johnson. The veteran safety previously spoke about his appreciation for how open the Eagles were during the process as well.
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But at the end of the day, Philadelphia clearly needed to focus on the top players they have recently drafted over free agent additions.
"We have this 2022-2024 group of players who, none are under long-term contracts. And so all that does is it makes the problem worse," Roseman explained. "Every dollar that you spend, is $1 less that you can spend on some of these younger players that maybe you want to retain. So getting out in front of it was important to us, and again, hard decisions, not asking anyone to agree with them. But that's part of our job."
It was shocking to fans. But Gardner-Johnson is no longer on the Eagles. It is up to Roseman to figure out a way to keep the safety position elite as they move forward now as well.
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This story was originally published March 31, 2025 at 2:57 PM.