October 30, 2017
On Sunday, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that "two teams have spoken to the Detroit Lions about potentially trading for Calvin Johnson's rights before Tuesday's NFL trade deadline."
It has now been revealed that the Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars are the interested parties, according to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, who appeared on Mike and Mike Monday morning.
"The speculation has been the Philadelphia Eagles," Mortensen said. "Once again, they need a tackle. They’re 7-1. They have only a first round pick next year, and three 4’s. They don’t have a second- or third-round pick. That’s not good. What’s it going to take to get Calvin Johnson, who by the way has a base salary still on the books for $16 million? Calvin has been working out, I guess, but does he really want to play? Jacksonville’s ears are perked up. Chances are, I don’t think it happens.”
My analysis: WEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
In more official analysis, while Mortensen correctly notes that Johnson's salary is in the $16-million range, the Eagles would only be on the hook for roughly half of that, since half the season is already over. However, what is more important is what dollar amount it will cost to get Johnson to come out of retirement, which makes his current cap hit somewhat irrelevant.
Like Barry Sanders, when Johnson retired, he was still an outstanding player. In his final season in 2015, Johnson had 88 catches for 1214 yards and 9 TDs. As far as his fit with the team, assuming he's anything close to the player he used to be, a 6'5, 237-pound wide receiver with 4.35 speed and almost 12,000 career receiving yards would make a fine addition to literally any roster.
As Mortensen notes, it's unlikely, but what fun is a trade deadline without some crazy Eagles speculation?
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