REPORTS: EAGLES BRING BACK OT FRED JOHNSON VIA TRADE WITH JAGS
The Philadelphia Eagles are acquiring offensive tackle Fred Johnson, a member of its Super Bowl championship team last season, from the Jacksonville Jaguars for a 2026 seventh-round draft pick, according to multiple media reports on Sunday night.
Johnson, 28, had signed a one-year contract with Jacksonville in March, reportedly for $1.3 million, after playing two seasons with Philadelphia. He started six of the 17 games that he played in 2024, and appeared in 17 games at tackle in 2023 after joining the team’s practice squad in November 2022.
The primary backup to starting tackles Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata, Johnson also played in one playoff game in 2023 and all four last season as the Eagles won the Super Bowl.
An undrafted free agent in 2019, Johnson spent time with the Pittsburgh Steelers but did not appear in any games. He played guard and tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals from 2019-21, starting eight of 23 games that he played. He also made five appearances with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2022.
ESPN and NFL Network also reported on Sunday night that the Eagles are trading offensive tackle Darian Kinnard to the Green Bay Packers for a 2027 sixth-round pick. Kinnard, 25, played in two games (one start) for Philadelphia in 2024.
The Kansas City Chiefs selected Kinnard in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft. He played in one game that season. The Chiefs waived him in August 2023 and signed him to their practice squad. Kinnard then signed with Philadelphia in February 2024.
Earlier on Sunday, the Eagles acquired quarterback Sam Howell and a 2026 sixth-round draft pick from Minnesota. The Vikings received a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 seventh-round selection.
Philadelphia also waived quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and waived/injured defensive back Lewis Cine on Sunday.
REPORT: BROWNS TO RELEASE QB TYLER HUNTLEY
The Cleveland Browns are planning to release the only quarterback in camp that had been voted to a Pro Bowl.
ESPN reported Sunday that the Browns are releasing Tyler Huntley, who was a longshot to make the 53-man roster on Tuesday. The five-year veteran came to camp last month in the wake of an injury to Kenny Pickett.
In addition to Pickett, rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders are expected to make the initial Cleveland roster. Joe Flacco, 40, was named the Browns’ starter earlier this week by head coach Kevin Stefanski.
Huntley played four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, getting into 20 games as a backup to Lamar Jackson. He was voted to the 2022 Pro Bowl as a replacement for Buffalo’s Josh Allen.
He spent 2024 with the Miami Dolphins and went 2-3 as a starter.
REPORT: CHIEFS ACQUIRING DT DERRICK NNADI FROM JETS
The Kansas City Chiefs are acquiring defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi from the New York Jets, ESPN reported on Sunday.
Per reports, the deal also includes a swap of late-round conditional picks in the 2027 NFL Draft. The Jets secure a sixth-round pick from the Chiefs while sending back a seventh-rounder.
The trade returns Nnadi to the Chiefs, who selected him in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He reached a contract agreement with the Jets in March after serving as a key performer for Kansas City during the team’s three Super Bowl championships over his seven NFL seasons.
Nnadi, 29, has started 87 of 115 games in Kansas City, with 2024 being his least productive season as a pro. Last year, Nnadi had just 11 tackles and one start.
Conversely, Nnadi started 86 games over his first six seasons, recording 222 tackles (37 per season), five sacks, one interception and one forced fumble.
COWBOYS’ TREVON DIGGS PASSES PHYSICAL, COMES OFF PUP LIST
Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs passed his physical and has been activated from the physically unable to perform list, the team announced Sunday.
Diggs was placed on the PUP list in July at the start of training camp in Oxnard, Calif. He missed the final six games of the 2024 season with a left knee injury, and that came after he sustained a torn ACL in practice two games into the 2023 campaign.
“I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about how hard Trevon’s been working,” Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said on Saturday. “He’s doing an incredible job with (trainer Britt Brown). These things don’t happen if he’s not putting in the time and the effort to do the stuff that he’s been doing. Really proud of him.”
It’s not immediately known whether Diggs will play in the Cowboys’ season opener at the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 4.
Diggs, 26, made 11 starts in 2024 and recorded two interceptions and 42 tackles before being shut down.
In 58 career games (57 starts) since Dallas drafted Diggs in the second round in 2020, he has recorded 20 interceptions, 63 pass deflections, 215 tackles, one sack and two forced fumbles. He is a two-time Pro Bowler and was named first-team All-Pro in 2021, when he led the league with 11 interceptions and returned two of them for touchdowns.
BUCCANEERS CUT ROOKIE FREE AGENT SAFETY SHILO SANDERS
One day after being ejected from an NFL exhibition game for punching an opponent, rookie free agent safety Shilo Sanders was cut on Sunday by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Buccaneers, like all NFL teams, must reduce their rosters to 53 players by Tuesday afternoon in preparation for Week 1 play on Sept. 4-8. Sanders, listed as a third-string safety on the team’s depth chart, contributed four solo tackles during exhibition play.
The 25-year-old Sanders was thrown out of Saturday’s preseason game against the Buffalo Bills when he punched tight end Zach Davidson at the end of a second-quarter play when Davidson was blocking him downfield.
Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles said afterward: “You can’t throw punches in this league. That’s inexcusable. They’re going to get you every time. Gotta grow from that.”
During six college football seasons — two at South Carolina, two at Jackson State and two at Colorado — Sanders appeared in 52 games with 33 starts. He amassed 217 tackles, six interceptions and five forced fumbles. Shilo played for his father, Deion Sanders, at Jackson State and Colorado.
VIKINGS ADD CARSON WENTZ, FLIP SAM HOWELL TO EAGLES
The Minnesota Vikings signed veteran Carson Wentz on Sunday morning and traded fellow quarterback Sam Howell to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Wentz, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, spent last season as Patrick Mahomes’ backup with the Kansas City Chiefs. The Vikings will be the 32-year-old Wentz’s sixth team in as many years.
To acquire Howell, the Eagles sent a 2026 fifth-round draft pick and a 2027 seventh-round selection to Minnesota. The Vikings are adding a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Eagles’ side of the ledger.
The Eagles released former first-round safety Lewis Cine to make room for Howell on the roster. Cine, 25, has battled injuries since being selected No. 32 overall by the Vikings in 2022, and he was seen on crutches Friday following the Eagles’ final preseason game against the Jets. The Eagles placed an injury designation on the waiver, meaning he could join the Eagles’ injured reserve list should he clear waivers.
Howell, 24, is expected to serve as Jalen Hurts’ backup while planned No. 2 Tanner McKee deals with the finger he injured during Friday’s exhibition finale against the New York Jets.
Howell made 20 appearances, including 18 starts, during his first three years in the NFL. He has completed 62.6 percent of his passes for 4,139 yards, 22 touchdowns and 23 interceptions, which leads to a 77.5 passer efficiency rating.
The Vikings acquired Howell during the 2025 NFL Draft in anticipation of him serving as rookie J.J. McCarthy’s backup, but head coach Kevin O’Connell chose to split the team’s Week 3 exhibition snaps between undrafted rookie Max Brosmer and sixth-year pro Brett Rypien.
Brosmer, 24, played at FCS New Hampshire before spending his final year with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. He completed 35 of 58 passes for 364 yards, two touchdowns and one interception while playing in all three of the Vikings’ exhibitions.
Rypien hit 15 of 30 passes for 151 yards and one interception during exhibition play. The nephew of Super Bowl champion Mark Rypien has made four NFL starts since breaking into the league with the Denver Broncos in 2020.
Wentz seized the Eagles’ starting job straight out of North Dakota State. He spent five seasons as the Eagles’ starter before moving on to Indianapolis (2021), Washington (2022), the Los Angeles Rams (2023) and the Chiefs (2024).
He owns a 47-46-1 record in his 94 career starts with a 62.7 percent completion rate, 22,410 yards, 153 touchdowns, 67 interceptions and an 89.3 passer efficiency rating.
