When the Atlanta Falcons kick off week one against the Saints a number of familiar faces won’t be standing on the sidelines for both sides including the recent New Orleans trade that sends Chauncy Gardner-Johnson to the Eagles. Many fans will remember Gardner-Johnson as the Saints player who punched and kicked the Atlanta logo and was a constant thorn in former Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan’s side. He made life hard in the secondary and not one Atlanta fans is sad to see Chauncey leave the division.
Shocker: The #Saints are trading DB Chauncey Gardner-Johnson to the #Eagles, sources tell me and @TomPelissero. After extension talks broke down, the focus shifted from keeping Gardner-Johnson to trading him. Philly lands a starter. pic.twitter.com/k6bxvziA84
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 30, 2022
What makes a great trade for Atlanta even better is how terrible the return was to New Orleans for such a high-impact player. The Saints received a 5th and 6th round pick in exchange for a 7th and the defensive back. A team that had been making moves to win this season suddenly parted ways with one of their better defensive pieces for what equates to receiving two lottery tickets in late-round draft picks.
The Saints clearly lost this deal and anytime the Saints lose Atlanta is happy. Not having Gardner-Johnson to help slow down Patterson, London, and Pitts in week one is a huge development that gives the Falcons a slight boost ahead of the week one matchup.
While the Saints’ defense is still a solid unit on paper the Falcons have the offensive skill players to match up and make life difficult for New Orleans. Gardner-Johnson will be a player that perfectly fits with an Eagles team that looks poised to take a huge leap forward this season. The only question for that roster is how far can quarterback Jalen Hurts take them?
The Saints losing Gardner-Johnson isn’t impactful enough to take them out of wildcard consideration but it is a step back for a defense that is going to have to carry Jameis Winston this season.