Eagles likely to lose C.J. Gardner-Johnson, James Bradberry, and Javon Hargrave, says NFL insider

"It's the cost of doing business," NFL insider Adam Schefter told 97.5 The Fanatic of the Eagles' looming defensive turnover this offseason.

BY NICK TRICOME
PhillyVoice Staff

ERIC HARTLINE/USA TODAY SPORTS

Keeping Brandon Graham, Javon Hargrave, and Fletcher Cox all on the roster will be a tall order for the Eagles this offseason.

Defensive turnover for the Eagles this offseason was always going to be inevitable, it's just a matter of to what extent. 

Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson didn't receive the franchise tag and sure looks like he's heading for the open market after posting a video to his social media channels thanking Philadelphia. 

Cornerback James Bradberry is due for a big payday after a shutdown season, and it probably won't be from the Eagles.

And defensive tackle Javon Hargrave after recording a career-best 11 sacks in a contract year?

"Hargrave is going to get about $20 million a year, I think," ESPN's NFL insider Adam Schefter told 97.5 The Fanatic Wednesday morning. "That's my projection going into next week, and we'll see if that turns out to be right or wrong."

But to Schefter, it probably means he won't be back either. 

"Yeah, I think he'll be gone," Schefter told the station. "I don't think they'll be able to afford to re-sign him."

Especially with a new contract due to quarterback Jalen Hurts and a pending list of 20 free agents in total when the negotiating window opens up on Monday. 

They can't keep everyone and they know it.

Said Schefter:

"Well, first of all, no surprise that they didn't use their franchise tag. I don't think they ever planned to do that, and so Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Javon Hargrave, and Brandon Graham, and Fletcher Cox, and all those people, they all become free agents now, allowed to test the market.

"Look, they're in a situation where this team's gonna have to be constructed differently. They had Jalen Hurts on a rookie contract, and that contract is gonna get done, I believe. I don't know when, whether it's a week, a month, before training camp, but they know it's gonna get done and they're obviously planning for that. 

"So when you're paying your quarterback, let's just call it $45-50 million a year, right?.... When you're paying him $50 million a year, you can't afford the same number of players that you did when he was on a rookie deal. You just can't. 

"They've planned, like, teams have their salary cap situations literally drawn out for years to come. They've known about this year 3-4 years ago. What they didn't know was that Jalen was gonna develop into the star that he is, that they're gonna have to pay him roughly $50 million a year, so you adjust and tweak your system to that.

"But they knew this was coming and they're gonna lose defensive talent. That's just the way it is. It's the cost of doing business. They'd like to have most of those players back. They can't. They just can't afford it." [97.5 The Fanatic]

As far as how the Eagles could go about filling those likely holes on a unit that helped push them to the Super Bowl, Schefter pointed to drafting, compensatory picks that could come through over the next couple of years with some of the departures, and some free-agent bargains general manager Howie Roseman might be able to find before and after the draft.

He also noted 2022's rookies in nose tackle Jordan Davis and linebacker Nakobe Dean as two players who will be looked toward to step up.

"I still think the defense is gonna be good," Schefter said. "They still have good guys. It wasn't like all of a sudden this just happened. They drafted Jordan Davis to step in there, they drafted Nakobe Dean to step in there. They drafted some of these guys so that they would be ready, and they're counting on those guys to step up."

https://www.phillyvoice.com/eagles-news-free-agency-cj-gardner-johnson-javon-hargrave-franchise-tag-nfl/

I hope they try to retain C.J. Gardner-Johnson. I think they are going to need him if other parts of the secondary are also leaving.

13 minutes ago, Wormlegs said:

I hope they try to retain C.J. Gardner-Johnson. I think they are going to need him if other parts of the secondary are also leaving.

Despite the "insider” speculation, gut feeling says we bring back CJGJ.  He’s only 25 and was a big part of our defense this year.  Not like we have no history of signing safeties to fairly large deals (Jenkins, McLeod, etc).  I think Howie restructures Slay and Johnson (for the umpteenth time) and create space to sign him and BG for starters.  

30 minutes ago, time2rock said:

Despite the "insider” speculation, gut feeling says we bring back CJGJ.  He’s only 25 and was a big part of our defense this year.  Not like we have no history of signing safeties to fairly large deals (Jenkins, McLeod, etc).  I think Howie restructures Slay and Johnson (for the umpteenth time) and create space to sign him and BG for starters.  

That is the same feeling I have. I think they know that they need to get him back as he is and will continue to be a big part of the defense. 

Would love have CJ back. I think Hargrave is gone. 

Hearing trade rumors about Slay. He may be gone and they re-sign Bradberry. 

9 hours ago, LacesOut said:

Would love have CJ back. I think Hargrave is gone. 

Hearing trade rumors about Slay. He may be gone and they re-sign Bradberry. 

Gut feeling says CJGJ is back.  Agreed on Hargrave being gone.  Highly doubt we trade Slay to re-sign Bradberry - just don't see that happening.  

It is now obvious that we are going to lose most of our free agents which means it is clear as day that we need to trade down 2-3 times with that pick at 10. We could have 5 2nd round picks and additonal picks through out all the other rounds. The best value is in the 2 nd round. You can get pro bowl players at heavily discounted salaries and we could fill our many needs. After no one wants slays contract and we release him. We will need 3 DL, 2 CBs,a S, RG, RB, 3rd WR, new swing OT and a back up C OG if Kelce retires. We need 4-5 more picks in the first 4-5 rounds.  Howie needs to broker 10 into 3 2nd round, a 3rd 4th and 5th round picks. He could turn that one pick into 6 or 7 picks

Remember that next year we are going to have an abundance of picks. I think we stay out this year and hope last year's picks are ready to start.