Trader Howie is on a roll!
The latest Philadelphia Eagles trade is a deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars to acquire an old friend.
EAGLES RECEIVE: Super Bowl LIX champion Fred Johnson
JAGUARS RECEIVE: 2026 seventh-round pick
Johnson, a Florida native, left the Birds as a free agent back in March to sign a one-year deal with the Jags. Here’s what we wrote at the time:
Losing Johnson isn’t ideal since he was a nice swing tackle option for the Eagles as the top backup behind both Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson. The Birds went 5-1 in games started by him last season. Big Fred most notably shut down Trey Hendrickson in the Eagles’ win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
But Johnson was hardly perfect. Pro Football Focus graded him 76th out of 85 tackles and marked him down for eight sacks allowed. In other words, he wasn’t a must-keep player.
Still, the Eagles will need to find a new swing tackle for 2025.
As it turns out, the Eagles did not find their swing tackle for 2025. They brought in Kendall Lamm to compete for that role but the veteran struggled to play well. Matt Pryor and Darian Kinnard got some looks at tackle but they both looked better at guard. Rookies Myles Hinton and Cameron Williams are not ready to play meaningful snaps in 2025.
And so the Eagles resorted to bringing Johnson back at a low cost. Not ideal to give up draft pick compensation for a player they probably could’ve just kept … but it’d be much worse to enter the season without a viable swing tackle option. Also, the Eagles are already loaded with picks in the 2026 NFL Draft to the point where they can’t realistically roster them all if they made the selections.
In addition to being an experienced quality backup, Johnson is also a good locker room presence. So, that’s a nice bonus here.
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