Eagles send CB to Texans, Vikings bolster lines in NFL free agency

The Philadelphia Eagles’ top-ranked defense is getting a major makeover a month after ending Patrick Mahomes’ bid to lead the Kansas City Chiefs to a third consecutive Super Bowl title.

A day after defensive tackle Milton Williams and edge rusher Josh Sweat agreed to leave Philly via free agency, the Super Bowl champs agreed to send safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the Houston Texans for guard Kenyon Green and a swap of late-round draft picks, a person with knowledge of the deal told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

Like free agent contracts, trades will become official with the start of the new league year Wednesday.

Green, the 15th overall pick in the 2022 draft, started 23 games for Houston over two seasons. He didn’t play in 2023 because of a shoulder injury.

The Texans also agreed to trade left tackle Laremy Tunsil to Washington on Monday. They have big holes up front on an offensive line that struggled to protect C.J. Stroud last season.

On Monday when the league’s 52-hour legal tampering window opened, Williams agreed to a deal with New England worth $26 million annually. Sweat is heading to the Arizona Cardinals on a four-year, $76.4 million contract.

The terms of the deals are according to people familiar with the negotiations who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because teams generally don’t announce contract terms and the deals can’t be signed until Wednesday, the start of the new league year.

The Minnesota Vikings continued an aggressive reconstruction of the interior lines Tuesday by agreeing to terms on contracts with former Washington defensive tackle Jonathan Allen (three years, $60 million) and former Indianapolis Colts guard Will Fries (five years, $88 million), who followed center Ryan Kelly from Indy to the Vikings.

Allen missed half of last season after tearing a pectoral muscle, but he returned for the final four games, including the playoffs as the Commanders reached the NFC championship game.

Because Allen was released last week for salary cap savings before the expiration of his previous contract, the Vikings were allowed to host the two-time Pro Bowl pick on a visit to team headquarters and announce the deal ahead of the signing period.

With the addition of Fries and Kelly, the Vikings have taken two big steps toward smoothing out the expected debut of quarterback J.J. McCarthy — after his rookie season was waylaid by a knee injury and Sam Darnold departed for Seattle.

Fries will bring instant chemistry with Kelly, a four-time Pro Bowl pick over nine seasons with the Colts whose arrival might well mean the end of Garrett Bradbury’s six-year tenure as Minnesota’s starting center.

The Vikings have had one of the best tackle tandems in the league with Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill, but interior pass protection has hurt them often. That was never more apparent than in their wild-card loss to the Rams two months ago, when Darnold was sacked nine times.

QB moves

Challenging Anthony Richardson for the starting quarterback job in Indianapolis will be Daniel Jones, who agreed to a one-year, $14 million contract.

Colts general manager Chris Ballard projected this sort of move was in the works when he told reporters at the NFL’s annual scouting combine Indy would have an “open” competition for the job.

“I think it’s good for the team, I think it’s good for Anthony,” Ballard said in late February. “Look, we drafted Anthony high, knowing it was going to take some time, and we knew there was going to be some hiccups along the way.”

Jones, the No. 6 overall pick in 2019 by the Giants who went 24-44-1 in New York with one playoff victory, will get a chance to prove he can still be a starter in the league. He finished last season as a backup for the Vikings after the Giants released him.

Richardson was the fourth overall pick in the 2023 draft but has struggled with both injuries and accuracy in his first two NFL seasons. He’s just 8-7 as a starter and last season had the lowest completion rate, 47.7%, of any starting quarterback in the NFL. In two seasons, Richardson also has 11 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions.

Other deals

• Carolina released veteran running back and Woodland Hills product Miles Sanders.

• The Commanders agreed to sign safety Will Harris to a two-year contract. Harris leaves New Orleans after one season to become the replacement for Jeremy Chinn in Washington.

• The 49ers added some depth at safety a day after losing Talanoa Hufanga to Denver. San Francisco agreed to a one-year deal with former Atlanta second-round pick Richie Grant, who started 33 games for the Falcons but was mostly a backup and special teams player last season.

• The Cowboys retained free agent DT Osa Odighizuwa (four years, $80 million) and shored up their thin interior defensive line by adding former Jets DT Solomon Thomas (two years, $8 million).

• The Falcons’ first free agent addition is LB Divine Deablo (two years), who had 63 tackles in 14 games with the Raiders last season and 106 in 15 games in 2023.

• The Chiefs agreed to a two-year, $20 million contract with former Titans and Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton. His size, physicality and versatility will help free up All-Pro CB Trent McDuffie.