Eagles trade for familiar face to bolster O-line depth
The Eagles bolstered their offensive line depth on Sunday evening, pulling off a trade to bring back swing tackle Fred Johnson, a league source confirmed to NBC Sports Philadelphia.
In the trade, the Eagles gave up a 2026 seventh-round pick to the Jaguars. ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported the news. Earlier in the day, the Eagles traded for quarterback Sam Howell. GM Howie Roseman has now made four trades this month.
During the preseason, it became obvious that the Eagles’ offensive line depth was lacking, especially at tackle behind Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson. This is a move that should really help. It was looking like some combination of Matt Pryor and/or Kendall Lamm would handle swing tackle duties, but both struggled at tackle this preseason.
Johnson, 28, played in all 34 regular season games and 5 playoff games for the Eagles over the last two seasons before signing with the Jaguars in free agency. Johnson’s one-year deal with the Jaguars included a base salary of just $1.17 million, according to Over The Cap.
Johnson started six games for the Eagles last season — five at left tackle and one at right tackle. In total, Johnson played 482 offensive snaps in the regular season last year and played well.
His best performance came in Week 8 against his former team, the Cincinnati Bengals. In that game, he was able to handle All-Pro Trey Hendrickson, who had 17 1/2 sacks last year but didn’t even have a quarterback hit against the Eagles.
Johnson (6-7, 326) began his career with the Steelers as a UDFA out of Florida in 2019 but eventually ended up in Cincinnati that season. He played in 23 games with the Bengals and 5 with the Buccaneers from 2019-2022 but started just 8 of those games.
In 2022, Johnson signed to the Eagles practice squad during the season and began to learn from offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, whom Johnson credits for helping save his NFL career.
“When I got here, I was so hard-headed, I ain’t want to listen to nobody, especially Stout,” Johnson said last August. “And Stout just said, ‘No, I’m not going to quit on you, I’m not going to give up on you.’ And that’s just something I appreciated him the most for. Because I was on my way out the league when I got here, like I said last year.
“This year, ‘Stout, whatever you need, I’m here, I’m ready. I’m ready to go.’ We don’t need to do no more coach me up, no babysitting, no ‘gotta get Fred ready to go today.’ I’m ready whenever you need me.”
When Johnson was thrust into action in Week 3 last year in a win over the Saints, he was emotional about his return to the field.
His teammates were incredibly happy for him in the locker room of the Superdome, where the Eagles would win the Super Bowl a few months later.
“After that touchdown to Saquon, I almost cried on the sideline,” Johnson said after the Week 3 win. “I ain’t going to lie. I got emotional. I got really emotional because I thought I’d never be back in action. Everybody knows some of my story. It’s just been a long time coming. When I seen him running to score, I got hype, real hype. I was just grateful for the moment. I’m ready to go back out and do it again.”
Eagles trade for familiar face to bolster O-line depth
