The Philadelphia Eagles acquired wide receiver John Metchie III in a trade with the Houston Texans on Sunday. The Eagles made the trade official on Monday.

The Eagles traded tight end Harrison Bryant and a 2026 fifth-round pick in exchange for Metchie and a 2026 sixth-round pick.

The Day 3 picks in the trade were both initially swapped in the C.J. Gardner-Johnson-Kenyon Green trade earlier this year, so the Eagles and Texans reacquired their original picks.

Who is John Metchie?

Metchie, 25, has spent the past three seasons with the Texans since the team selected him in the second round of the 2022 NFL draft out of the University of Alabama. 

Metchie, who played with Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith at Alabama, missed his rookie season in 2022 after he was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia, but returned in the 2023 season. In 29 games over the last two seasons, Metchie recorded 40 catches for 412 yards and one touchdown. 

Metchie's best game of his career came in Week 7 against the Detroit Lions last season, when he had five catches for 74 yards and a touchdown. In 2024, Metchie received the 2024 George Halas Award by the Pro Football Writers of America for overcoming so much adversity. 

At Alabama, Metchie won the College Football Playoff National Championship in 2020 and earned Second Team All-SEC honors as a junior in 2021. 

In his junior season, Metchie had 96 catches for 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns, but he tore his ACL in the 2021 SEC Championship game. Metchie also won the Jon Cornish Trophy in 2020 and 2021 at Alabama, which goes to the top Canadian player in college football.  

Metchie was born in Taiwan before moving to Ghana and then eventually Canada. He moved to the United States to attend St. James School in Hagerstown, Maryland, in high school. 

Metchie, a four-star recruit, spent a post-graduate year at the Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey, before heading to Alabama.

Metchie joins Eagles amid tight position battle on WR depth chart

Metchie joins the Eagles as wide receivers Johnny Wilson, Darius Cooper and Ainias Smith are all battling for spots on Philadelphia's depth chart behind A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Jahan Dotson. 

Metchie isn't a lock to make the Eagles' roster, so this week of practices and team's preseason finale against the New York Jets on Friday will be crucial for the Alabama product. 

Cooper, an undrafted free agent out of Tarleton State University in Texas, has made a serious push for a roster spot in training camp. He flashed in Week 1 of the preseason against the Cincinnati Bengals with six catches for 82 yards and a touchdown. 

Wilson and Ainias Smith, the team's 2024 draft picks, have also flashed in the preseason with the Eagles.