The New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles agreed on a deal for veteran defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and as confirmed by the player’s agent. The 24-year-old was a 2019 fourth-round draft pick for the former team. 

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Gardner-Johnson was unhappy with the Saints. He wanted a new contract but the NFL outfit did not offer him one. The Eagles will also get New Orleans’ 7th-round pick in 2025, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. In return, the Saints will receive the Eagles’ fifth-round pick in 2023 and the worse of their two sixth-round picks in 2024.

There’s no immediate word on what the Eagles are sending back to the Saints. It is unclear what Philadelphia are offering the defensive back. 

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Chauncey Gardner-Johnson was a fourth-round draft pick in 2019. He was heading into the final year of his rookie contract and is due a base salary of $2.54 million this season. Last year, he played in 12 games, with 11 starts.

Since making his debut, Gardner-Johnson has a tally of 161 combined tackles, two sacks, 28 defended passes and five interceptions. He started 24 of the Saints’ past 27 games dating back to 2020.

However, New Orleans added veteran safeties Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye in free agency this offseason. With the two available, Gardner-Johnson’s role in the Saints’ defense took a hit.

He will make a shift to playing more snaps at safety when he gets to Philadelphia, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports.

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In July this year, during an appearance on “Good Morning Football,” Chauncey Gardner-Johnson was asked if they had the best defense in the NFL. 

“Of course, I mean from first level, second level, third level. I mean, you got Cam (Jordan) and the front to pop it off, Shy (Tuttle), Marcus Davenport. Then you got Demario (Davis) in the middle calling all the shots,” he said.