Darius Slay Tweets Reaction to Chauncey Gardner-Johnson Trade

The Philadelphia Eagles shook up their secondary on Tuesday when they sent two late draft picks to the New Orleans Saints for safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and a 2025 seventh-round selection.

It didn't take long for Gardner-Johnson's new teammates to welcome him to the City of Brotherly Love. Veteran cornerback Darius Slay took to Twitter to make his fellow Eagle feel comfortable, tweeting out, "Welcome to the squad my guy!! Go Time."

Eagles Trade News

The trade caught a lot of people by surprise because no one was expecting the Saints to move on from Gardner-Johnson. Unfortunately, the team couldn't work out an extension with the upcoming free agent ahead of Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET roster deadline.

The Eagles had one of the better secondaries in 2021, giving up only 222.2 receiving yards per game (No. 11). Bringing in a talented young defender like Gardner-Johnson should help Philadelphia get back to having a near-top-10 passing defense, especially with the likes of Slay, James Bradberry and Marcus Epps helping out too.

The former 2019 fourth-rounder suited up in 12 games (11 starts) with the Saints last year, recording 46 tackles, seven defended passes, three interceptions and a pair of sacks. Furthermore, he held opposing quarterbacks to a 63.9% completion rate and 67.7 passer rating when targeted.

The Eagles are a better team with Gardner-Johnson than they were without them. Hopefully, he can live up to the hype by helping Philadelphia win its first NFC East title since 2019.

Eagles NFC East Odds

The NFC East race looks a lot tighter following the Gardner-Johnson deal. The Eagles are now co-favorites with the Dallas Cowboys at +145 odds to win the division, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.