For the fourth time in four seasons, safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson will have a new home. After winning a Super Bowl with the Eagles last season, the team has decided to move on from him.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Houston is acquiring Gardner-Johnson from the Eagles in exchange for former first-round pick G Kenyon Green. The trade reportedly includes a pick swap, with the Eagles getting a 2026 fifth-round pick and the Texans getting a 2026 sixth-rounder.
Last season, Gardner-Johnson, in his second stint with the Eagles, had a team-high six interceptions, including one interception return for a touchdown.
The 27-year-old spent the 2022 season with Philadelphia after spending the first three seasons of his career with the Saints, and the Eagles made it to Super Bowl 57, where they would lose to the Chiefs. In 2022, Gardner-Johnson would also have six interceptions for the Eagles.
He would sign a one-year deal with the Lions in 2023 before returning to the Eagles on a three-year, $27 million contract last offseason.
With Gardner-Johnson on the move, the Eagles could turn to young players in Sydney Brown, Tristian McCollum, or Lewis Cine. Also, with the addition of Green, maybe the Eagles won’t try to bring back free agent G Mekhi Becton, but we shall see.
No matter what they do, this move was a shocker. Gardner-Johnson was a big reason the Eagles were very good on defense, but maybe Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni know something that we don’t.
Roseman did make it clear that the Eagles will look a little different in 2025, and we all know when you win a Super Bowl, teams around the league want your players and your coaches.
Thus far in free agency, Philadelphia has lost Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Oren Burks, Isaiah Rodgers, and now Gardner-Johnson.
You can’t keep everybody, but not many expected Gardner-Johnson to be gone.
