Who can replace C.J. Gardner-Johnson at safety for the Eagles?

Add safety to the list of Eagles needs this offseason.

By trading C.J. Gardner-Johnson, the team freed up some short-term cash and created some salary-cap space in the years to come but will now need to reinforce the defensive secondary.

Here are some options — one internal, one in free agency, and one through the draft — who could replace Gardner-Johnson at safety for the Eagles:

The most seamless replacement for Gardner-Johnson is already on the Eagles roster. Brown spent most of the 2024 season as a special-teams ace after returning from a torn ACL suffered the year before, but the 2023 third-round pick out of Illinois could be ready to step into a more prominent defensive role next season.

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Brown played 335 defensive snaps as a rookie before his knee injury in Week 18, but he primarily served as an early down nickel cornerback who lined up closer to the line of scrimmage to take advantage of his physicality coming downhill.

To replace Gardner-Johnson, Brown will have to prove he can operate farther away from the ball as one of the two deep safeties defensive coordinator Vic Fangio often deploys. He has the athleticism and physical play to fit into a Fangio scheme, but the question revolves around how he’ll fare reading things in zone coverage.

Last month, Brown mentioned the importance having a full offseason going into his third season. His knee injury sidelined him for the whole of training camp, but he made a habit of watching each defensive rep from behind the end zones of the practice facilities, where he could mimic the pre-snap diagnosis process of the safeties on the field.

Speaking to The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane as Eagles players cleaned out their lockers, Brown said he was eager to show why the Eagles used the 66th pick on him.

“I didn’t come here to just play special teams, obviously, so I’m motivated,” Brown said. “It’s going to be awesome to have an offseason. Last year was a little weird just because I had one leg [in good health after surgery on the other], so it’s just different.

“I’m able to approach this offseason that way I’d wanted to — have the OTAs, have a training camp, have every reason to go out there and do what I need to do to show that I was drafted where I was drafted. Those are my intentions.”

An initial scan through the available safeties in free agency did not exactly yield many perfect projections. Simmons, 31, stands out because he has experience playing in Fangio’s system during their shared time with the Denver Broncos from 2019 to 2021. He was named second-team All-Pro twice and made the Pro Bowl once in those three years, illustrative of how well he fit into Fangio’s scheme.

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Speaking on the Talkin’ Ball podcast with New York Daily News columnist and Giants writer Pat Leonard, Simmons said his familiarity with Fangio as well as Eagles defensive backs coach Christian Parker, who coached in Denver from 2021 to 2023, placed the Eagles “high on the list” for his desired destinations.

“Having a chance to reunite with Vic and also the defensive backs coach Christian Parker, he’s over there,” Simmons said shortly after news of the Gardner-Johnson trade broke. “I’ve worked with him the last four years with Denver and he was a huge piece. Obviously, there’s a lot of rotating with coaches and defensive coordinators, he was a huge piece, the stability year in and out, the terminology, the practices, there was a lot of familiarity with him.

“There’s a lot of good things about Philly. Obviously I think their offense is clearly one of the most talented in the league, that offensive line is unbelievable, but what the defense did this past season to go win that Super Bowl is crazy.

“Like, watching those guys operate, you can tell the leadership there, top down, is by far one of the best in the league. To have an opportunity to go play in Philly, especially reuniting with Vic and CP like we talked about, it’s high on the list.”

That said, Simmons, a third-round pick in 2016, was available in free agency last offseason as well, but the Eagles opted to sign Gardner-Johnson instead. Simmons eventually signed with the Atlanta Falcons midway through training camp and started 16 games last year, logging 62 tackles, two interceptions, and seven pass breakups.

Perhaps Simmons can be a low-cost replacement for Gardner-Johnson because of his familiarity with Fangio, but it’s hard to envision that the Eagles would have moved on from one mid-priced veteran safety just to add another to their books.

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Among the deep group of safeties with a chance of going on Day 2 of the NFL draft, Watts stands out because of his ball production at Notre Dame. The converted linebacker totaled 13 interceptions over the last two seasons to go along with 14 pass breakups.

He has experience lining up both as a deep safety and closer to the line of scrimmage and finished last season with 82 total tackles.

As a two-year starter, Watts could be a plug-and-play safety prospect for the Eagles, although the 23-year-old didn’t do athletic testing at the NFL scouting combine and might not have the explosive physical traits the Eagles typically prioritize at that position.