Vic Fangio confirms he was on board with Eagles trading C.J. Gardner-Johnson to Houston

The Philadelphia Eagles shocked the NFL world in March by trading safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the Houston Texans for offensive guard Kenyon Green and a fifth-round pick.

Many questioned why the Eagles would trade away a core part of their defense after winning the Super Bowl. GM Howie Roseman shed some light on the situation at the NFL annual meetings.

"Really, when you look at our team and you look at kind of the amount of highly paid players who earned their contracts — we got eight guys who are making $15 million or more — we have from the 2022 to 2024 drafts, we have eight starters who are on the Super Bowl team, none of those guys have long-term contracts. In those drafts, probably have five or six players that will be competing for starting jobs.

"So you have a lot of players coming through that aren't under long-term contracts, plus a lot of guys who are on long-term contracts, and we never want to be in a situation where we have one year where we're getting rid of 20 guys. And we've been very fortunate to be aggressive in keeping our guys and signing guys in free agency, and it's also got to align with the draft and having young players."

On Tuesday, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio confirmed Roseman's sentiments, stating that he was on board with the financial decision.

Vic Fangio says the decision to trade Chauncey Gardner-Johnson was a salary cap decision and that he was fine with it— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) June 3, 2025

The Eagles let several good players walk this offseason due to financial constraints, including key contributors Milton Williams, Josh Sweat, and Isaiah Rodgers. Retaining Zack Baun was their top priority this offseason, and they signed him to a three-year, $51 million extension. They also extended Saquon Barkley and Lane Johnson.

Roseman likely wanted to avoid a potential contract dispute with Gardner-Johnson in preparation for paying his younger players. Cam Jurgens, Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean, Nolan Smith, Jalen Carter, Quinyon Mitchell, and Cooper DeJean are all on rookie contracts, with Carter projected to reset the defensive tackle market next year.

The Eagles need to free up as much money as possible to keep their foundation together, and Gardner-Johnson was a casualty of that process. Roseman admittedly was too sentimental with players following their Super Bowl LII victory, and he isn't making that mistake this time around.

This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: Vic Fangio confirms he agreed with Eagles trading C.J. Gardner-Johnson