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Despite being on a 9-game winning streak, the Philadelphia Eagles are spending the week leading up to their Week 15 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers talking about the discontent within their own locker room.
Mainly, they’re talking about how the passing game isn’t work and how frustrated that’s made their pair of superstar wide receivers in DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown — a duo with contracts worth $171 million.
Smith and Brown lashed out after the Eagles mustered just 108 passing yards in a 22-16 win over the Carolina Panthers in Week 14, and much of that agita can be traced to the fact the Eagles don’t have a third wide receiver to take pressure off of them.
It’s a weakness Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder thinks the franchise won’t be able to fix until the 2025 NFL draft, where he thinks they should go after record-setting Oregon wide receiver Tez Johnson in the mid or later rounds.
“Philadelphia has been looking for a third receiver to play with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith for a few years now,” Holder wrote. “While Tez Johnson might get tabbed with the ‘slot-only’ label during the pre-draft process, he could be an intriguing mid-round option for Eagles general manager Howie Roseman.”
Johnson One of College Football’s Most Electric WRs
Johnson, the adopted brother of Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix, played alongside Nix for Oregon in 2023 after he was a 2-time All-Sun Belt Conference pick at Troy in 2021 and 2022.
Playing with Nix in 2023, Johnson had 86 receptions for 1,182 yards and 10 touchdowns in 14 games and helped lead the Ducks to a 12-2 record. In 2024, Johnson has 1,021 yards of total offense and 11 total touchdowns in 11 games, including 78 receptions for 866 yards.
The Ducks are also 13-0, ranked No. 1 in the nation and have the top seed in the College Football Playoff.
Johnson is coming off the most electric performance of his career in a 45-37 win over No. 3 Penn State in the Big Ten Conference Championship Game on December 7, where he had 11 receptions for 181 yards and 1 touchdown as he became the first wide receiver to earn Big Ten Championship Game MVP honors.
It’s not hard to see an NFL comparison between Johnson and veteran Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett, a third round pick (No. 69 overall) out of Kansas State in the 2015 NFL draft. While Lockett is slightly bigger than Johnson at 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds — Johnson is 5-10 and 165 pounds — it’s not hard to see the similarities in their games. Lockett, a 3-time NFL All-Pro, made an impact early in his career returning kicks and punts — something Johnson could do as well.
Lockett will pass $106 million in career earnings in the final year of his contract in 2025 and has cashed out with the Seahawks several times, including a 3-year, $30.75 million contract extension in 2018 and a 4-year, $69 million contract extension in 2021.
Eagles Tried and Failed to Trade for WR3 in 2024
The Eagles, who are 11-2, tried and failed to find a WR3 option behind Smith and Brown when they traded with the Washington Commanders for for 2022 first round pick Jahan Dotson in August 2024. Dotson has been nothing short of a bust for the Eagles to this point, with 12 receptions for 122 yards and no touchdowns in 13 games.