In just a mere 7 months since winning Super Bowl LIX with the Philadelphia Eagles, safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson has watched his career bottom out.
Now, Gardner-Johnson has another chance to get things back on track after signing with the reeling Baltimore Ravens just 2 weeks after he was cut by the Houston Texans.
“Free-agent safety Chauncey Gardner–Johnson is signing with Ravens practice squad, per his agent Kevin Conner,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter wrote on his official X account on October 7. ” … Gardner–Johnson still gets his fully guaranteed 2025 salary with the Texans so there is little financial impact for the Ravens.”
The Ravens entered the season as AFC favorites but have plummeted to a 1-4 start thanks mostly to a porous defense — including a Week 5 home loss to the Texans.
It’s a situation that somehow managed to get worse recently with an injury to NFL All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton. Enter CJGJ.
“The Ravens are in need of a safety as their star Kyle Hamilton is currently questionable with a hamstring injury,” Sports Illustrated’s Madison Williams wrote on October 7. “He missed this past Sunday’s contest vs. the Texans, which Baltimore lost 44-10 in a blowout … Gardner-Johnson could get elevated from the practice squad in time for this Sunday’s game vs. the Rams, especially if Hamilton isn’t ready to return to the field.”
CJGJ Led NFL in Interceptions in 2022
Before we get into the reason Gardner-Johnson’s career has bottomed out, we must address the most crucial talking point when it comes to him — it’s not because of his play that has him on his fifth team in 5 years following previous stints with the New Orleans Saints, Detroit Lions, Eagles and Texans.
Gardner-Johnson had 3 interceptions in his final season with the Saints in 2021, then led the NFL with 6 interceptions in just 12 regular season games for the Eagles in 2022 as the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl.
After spending one year with the Lions in 2023 he returned to the Eagles in 2024 and had 6 interceptions again, this time starting 16 regular-season games and capping his year with a Super Bowl win.
On-Field, Off-Field Behavior Both Concerns
While Gardner-Johnson is a high impact player — see his 12 interceptions in 2 seasons with the Eagles — but he’s also been a constant stream of behavioral issues that can impact both winning and losing and locker room chemistry.
While the Eagles signed Gardner-Johnson to a 3-year, $27 million contract in March 2024, it’s not hard to parse the reason they traded him to the Eagles one year later — in his one season return to Philly he was fined 6 times for taunting and illegal hits.
Those are the kinds of headaches that send teams running for the hills.
“Among the issues Texans experienced behind the scenes with Gardner–Johnson, per sources, were that he was critical of teammates in the secondary and didn’t like his role,” Houston KPRC’s Aaron Wilson wrote on his official X account. “It was a locker room issue and ultimately this just wasn’t a good fit for the team and for a talented player … after friction behind the scenes with him complaining about his role, wanting to blitz more, per league sources, and even communicating that he wanted to be traded. It didn’t work out for him here.”
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