Philadelphia Eagles trade for a 10th former Alabama player

Published On: August 19, 2025

Through an NFL deal with the Houston Texans, the Philadelphia Eagles will add a tenth former Alabama player to their preseason roster.

According to reports from the Philadelphia Inquirer, NFL Network, and ESPN on Sunday, the Eagles will acquire wide receiver John Metchie III from the Texans.

Five players on the Philadelphia roster, including wide receiver DeVonta Smith, were colleagues of Metchie’s at Alabama. Smith earned the Heisman Trophy in 2020 with 117 receptions for 1,856 yards and 23 touchdowns for the Crimson Tide’s undefeated CFP national championship squad. Metchie caught 55 catches for 916 yards and six touchdowns, ranking as Alabama’s second-best receiver.

Metchie was listed with the third team on the Texans’ depth chart this week, meaning he was not one of the six receivers that NFL teams normally have on their active rosters during the regular season.

With six receptions for 53 yards, Metchie leads Houston as a receiver through the first two preseason games for the Texans.

Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Brown had a hamstring injury during training camp, so Metchie joins Philadelphia.

According to the Eagles depth chart, Johnny Wilson, Ainias Smith, and Terrace Marshall are the second-team wide receivers, while Brown, Smith, and Jahan Dotson are the first-team players for Philadelphia.

During the 2024 regular season, Wilson had five receptions for 38 yards and one touchdown, Smith had seven receptions for 41 yards and one score, and Dotson had 19 receptions for 216 yards. Last season, Marshall caught three passes for 41 yards with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Metchie caught 24 catches for 254 yards and one touchdown in 13 regular-season games last season, including his first three NFL starts. After that, he caught six passes for 63 yards in two postseason games.

After catching 151 passes for 2,058 yards and 14 touchdowns in his final two seasons at Alabama, Metchie was selected in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft and signed with Houston. However, Metchie received a diagnosis of acute promyelocytic leukemia just before his first training camp began, and he chose to spend his rookie season recovering from cancer rather than playing football.

Metchie recorded three receptions for 44 yards in two postseason games in 2023 and 16 receptions for 158 yards in 16 regular-season games during his postponed debut.

Other former Alabama players on the Eagles roster include:

Jihaad Campbell, linebacker
Landon Dickerson, guard
Jalen Hurts, quarterback
Cameron Latu, tight end
Eli Ricks, cornerback
Keilan Robinson, running back
DeVonta Smith, wide receiver
Tyler Steen, offensive lineman
Byron Young, defensive tackle

Metchie played with Dickerson, Latu, Robinson, Smith, and Young at Alabama.

Harrison Bryant, a tight end, and a fifth-round draft pick are traded to Philadelphia for Metchie and a sixth-round pick. The teams traded the draft selections for guard Kenyon Green and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to Houston in March.

Philadelphia’s preseason finale against the New York Jets takes place at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Friday at 6:30 p.m. CDT. On September 4, the Eagles play the Dallas Cowboys in the first game of the regular season.