Eagles, Saints trade: Philly adds Chauncey Gardner-Johnson after releasing starting safety Anthony Harris

In a quick series of moves on Tuesday morning, the Philadelphia Eagles made some big changes at the safety position. 

According to multiple reports, the Eagles included former starting safety Anthony Harris among their roster cuts as they worked to get down to 53 players. Minutes after those reports surfaced, another one came down the pipe: the Eagles traded for former Saints defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, according to NFL.com. 

Harris signed with Philadelphia last offseason after spending the first six seasons of his career with the Minnesota Vikings. He played in and started 14 games for the Eagles a year ago, spending time lining up in the box, in the slot, and deep in center field. 

That’s a skill set Gardner-Johnson has shown throughout his career in New Orleans as well. In addition to playing safety, Gardner-Johnson has shown himself to be extremely effective covering out of the slot. That versatility should aid defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon as he attempts to build out the defense that was schematically interesting but not as effective as he’d hoped last season. 

Please check the opt-in box to acknowledge that you would like to subscribe.

Thanks for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox.

Sorry! There was an error processing your subscription.

The Eagles also figure to try to sign Gardner-Johnson to an extension in short order. He’s headed into the final season of his rookie contract, and having just surrendered value to pick him up, Philadelphia likely views him as part of its long-term plan.

The Saints, meanwhile, move on from an important part of their secondary, but still have plenty of depth left over. They still have Marcus Maye, P.J. Williams, Marshon Lattimore, Paulson Adebo, and Bradley Roby, and they signed Tyrann Mathieu this offseason and drafted Avontae Taylor in the second round. There should be enough there for new head coach Dennis Allen to account for the loss of one of the team’s most versatile players.