The sudden – from the outisde, at least – trade of C.J. Gardner-Johnson on Tuesday created an immediate opening at safety for the Eagles opposite of Reed Blankenship.
And from where the depth chart stands right now, third-year defensive back Sydney Brown looks to be lining up for a much greater role in 2025, barring general manager Howie Roseman bringing in any reinforcements through either trade or free agency.
So, for the time being, these next few months building up to the 2025 season when it comes to the safety position are going to be about whether Brown can really play.
He can get downhill and light a guy up, absolutely. That was clear when he got to camp going on two years ago – Avonte Maddox called him a heat-seeking missile – and it was clear during parts of this past season when he was mostly a special teamer, like when he shot straight downfield on a punt against Jacksonville to launch the ball loose from the returner while sending him spinning into the grass.
The 24-year-old can hit, but will he be able to read plays and cover overtop to a potentially starting level?
He won't be the only younger player the Eagles appear set to ask more of with this next coming season, as our own Jimmy Kempski pointed out:
Young Eagles players who will have bigger roles in 2025 (so far):
– QB Tanner McKee
– RB Will Shipley
– EDGE Jalyx Hunt
– iDL Moro Ojomo
– LB Jeremiah Trotter
– CB Kelee Ringo
– S Sydney Brown— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) March 12, 2025
That said, Brown's at the defensive position where after Gardner-Johnson left the first time, the Eagles got hurt the most – to the point where the fix for it was in bringing Gardner-Johnson back again.
If there's promise, though, it's in the Giants tape from Week 18, when Brown and the Eagles' reserves went up against the New York starters and beat them, 20-13.
Brown made the game-sealing pick on Drew Lock, which you'll have to watch on YouTube either by clicking HERE or on the embed below because, once again, the NFL's digital media policy makes absolutely zero sense.
Anyway, a couple of other odds and ends on the Birds…
A reminder
The Eagles got Saquon Barkley an extension and then signed Zack Baun, but once the free agency negotiating period opened earlier this week, it got pretty quiet.
Isaiah Rodgers, Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Oren Burks, and Kenny Gainwell all reached deals elsewhere, while Darius Slay and James Bradberry are pending their official releases. They made the minor of trade of backup QB Kenny Pickett to Cleveland, then the major one of Gardner-Johnson to Houston for O-lineman Kenyon Green, which on paper, doesn't jump out as a move that makes them better.
Right now, and as mentioned above, the Eagles' plan seems to be to lean on youth to fill the gaps while they prep for other crucial contract extensions down the line.
It isn't exactly thrilling stuff, and there is still a lot of time for Roseman to make something happen, but at the same time, the GM did warn back at the combine that this offseason wasn't looking to be particularly aggressive.
As Roseman told AllPHLY's Zach Berman last month:
"It may look different — some of the moves that we may have to make here may not be what are necessarily on other peoples' minds. …It's probably not going to look like maybe the conventional wisdom thinks it should look. I would just ask our fans to just have patience throughout the offseason. The offseason doesn't stop in free agency. The offseason doesn't stop in the draft."
Howie Roseman asked fans for patience while the Eagles put together the roster this offseason: "It may look different — some of the moves that we may have to make here may not be what are necessarily on other peoples' minds. …It's probably not going to look like maybe the…
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) February 25, 2025
Can't take home runs swings all the time.
'No bad blood'
Gardner-Johnson posted his farewell to Philly on social media after word of his trade to Houston broke, but he also streams on Twitch, and went a bit further into what the trade call was like from the Eagles while he was live – he ran his trade through Madden, too.
"Wasn't no love lost, wasn't no bad blood," Gardner-Johnson said on his stream (as captured by the Philly Talk Podcast on Twitter/X). "It was a great phone call…great phone call. Amazing phone call to be all the way thorough…The situation is them young guys gotta get paid in Philly – Jalen Carter, [Reed Blankenship], [Zack Baun] – all them guys gotta get their money, they deserve it, you know, me getting older. So I understand. There was no bad blood. There was none."
Gardner-Johnson added that his only ask was to be somewhere where he could keep playing "winning football."
The Texans, who have been in the playoff picture the past two years, were the match.
MORE: Justin Simmons has Eagles, reunion with Vic Fangio 'high on the list'
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