Eagles Add To WR Deep Room With John Metchie Trade

PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles have acquired wide receiver John Metchie from the Houston Texans, a league source confirmed to Eagles On SI.

The Texans are getting back veteran tight end Harrison Bryant and swapping back the draft capital that was used in a deal earlier this year when Philadelphia sent playmaking safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the Texans for offensive lineman Kenyon Green.

Houston receives the fifth-round pick it used to get Gardner-Johnson, and the Eagles are now back in possession of the sixth-rounder they originally sent to the Texans with CJGJ.

By re-acquiring their original picks, the Eagles and Texans essentially traded Gardner-Johnson and Bryant for Green and Metchie.

Eagles TE Harrison Bryant speaking with reporters. | John McMullen/Eagles On SI

Metchie, 25, was the 44th overall pick in the 2022 draft out of Alabama. He missed his rookie season after being diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia, but beat the disease to return and accumulate 40 receptions over the past two seasons. He will be playing under the final year of his rookie contract with the Eagles.

The Texans have a very deep WR room that includes Niko Collins, Christian Kirk, and rookies Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel.

Bryant, meanwhile, is an NFL player but was likely on the outs in Philadelphia as the TE5 behind Dallas Goedert, Grant Calcaterra, Kylen Granson, and developmental project E.J. Jenkins, who has made significant strides while bulking up his body.

At 6-foot and 190 pounds, Metchie is a native of Taiwan and spent his final year of high school in New Jersey at the Pettie School in Hightstown, which is in Mercer County.

Last season with the Texans, Metchie has 24 receptions of 37 targets for 254 yards and one touchdown while playing in 13 games and 45 % of the Texans' offensive snaps. He added 6 more receptions for 63 yards in two postseason games.

A star in college at Alabama, Metchie had 96 receptions for 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns in 2021 before tearing his ACL in the 2021 SEC Championship Game. He was a teammate of Devonta Smith with the Crimson Tide in 2019-2020.

Metchie joins a crowded WR room in Philadelphia headlined by second-team All-Pro A.J. Brown, Smith, Jahan Dotson, Johnny Wilson, and Ainias Smith. At times undrafted rookie Darius Cooper, Terrace Marshall, and Elijah Cooks have also performed well this summer.

On the surface, there does seem to be a little redundancy between Dotson's projected role as the WR3 in Philadelphia and the arrival of Metchie. Ironically, Dotson was acquired last summer on Aug. 22 from Washington, and a large part of his season was spent trying to build chemistry with quarterback Jalen Hurts.

It should also be noted that Brown has missed time in training camp with a hamstring injury and seemed to be ramping up for a return for joint practices with the Cleveland Browns this week before being pulled back.

When it comes to the why behind Howie Roseman making the deal, Occam's Razor may apply. Bryant wasn't going to make the Eagles' initial 53-man roster, and the GM has a history of seeking players the Eagles liked during the draft process who have underachieved elsewhere.

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