Former Patriots Defender Joins Historic AFC Rival

Years ago, the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts formed one of the greatest non-divisional rivalries in football, meeting in the playoffs several teams in the mid-2000s as Tom Brady and Peyton Manning — two of the best quarterbacks ever — dueled in some historic matchups.

The rivalry isn't quite the same as it was, but there are certainly still remnants of that bad blood, and now a Patriots player just defected to join the enemy. Well, in a manner of speaking.

New England waived defensive lineman Eric Johnson earlier in the week to make room for running back Trayveon Williams, and now, Johnson has decided to sign with Indianapolis, the Colts announced.

Johnson played in 11 games with the Pats last season, logging 17 tackles and posting a 54.2 overall grade at Pro Football Focus.

The 26-year-old, who played his collegiate football career at Missouri State, was actually originally selected by Indianapolis in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, so Johnson began his career with the Colts before being claimed off waivers by the Patriots last August.

During his first couple of professional campaigns, Johnson didn't make much of an impact, totaling 18 tackles and a sack between 2022 and 2023.

New England has completely revamped its defense this offseason, signing significant pieces like Milton Williams, Harold Landry, Carlton Davis and Robert Spillane in free agency and also nabbing some interesting talents in the draft, such as edge rusher Bradyn Swinson.

The Pats will also hopefully be getting Christian Barmore back after the star defensive tackle missed most of last year with blood clots.

Taking all of that into consideration, there really wasn't much room for Johnson, who didn't even get much playing time in 2024 in spite of the Patriots' roster being rather thin.