[ad_1]
It didn’t end well.
Around this time last year, the Eagles and CJ Gardner-Johnson tried to find common ground on a contract extension to keep the energetic young safety in Philadelphia and it didn’t work out.
Not only did it not work… but it got a little ugly.
The Eagles ended up pivoting after talks fell through and instead gave James Bradberry a contract extension, which, in retrospect, was obviously a big mistake. Gardner-Johnson ended up in Detroit on a one-year deal. And then his agents publicly tweeted some details of the two contract negotiations and Gardner-Johnson publicly criticized Eagles fans in a series of since-deleted tweets.
Like we said, it got a little ugly.
That’s why both sides deserve kudos for righting a wrong and leaving bygones behind this week. Gardner-Johnson will return to Philadelphia in free agency on a three-year deal, one year after all that drama last year.
So let’s give the Eagles credit for acknowledging a mistake and correcting it.
You have to give Gardner-Johnson credit for overcoming any hurt feelings and returning to a team where he actually fit well.
And you also have to give Gardner-Johnson credit for making amends with a fan base that was eager to welcome him to the nest Tuesday night.
A year ago, Gardner-Johnson was attacking Eagles fans on social media. This year everything is love.
It’s also fair to wonder if a young Howie Roseman would have been willing to bring back a player like Gardner-Johnson. Roseman was a rising GM in the early 2010s, but it wasn’t until after his year-long dismissal that he began to better understand the importance of building relationships as a GM. This is one he was able to repair.
The Gardner-Johnson deal was initially reported as a three-year deal worth a maximum of $33 million, and we’ll see in the coming days how much of the heavy lifting the “max” portion of that report is doing. But obviously it is a measure that makes sense.
The Eagles desperately need to rebuild their secondary and Gardner-Johnson is a versatile and rising 26-year-old defensive back who didn’t even become a full-time safety until the Eagles traded him just before the start of the 2022 season.
Remember, during his first three NFL seasons as a New Orleans Saint, Gardner-Johnson was primarily a nickel cornerback. He was learning how to play safety on the fly in Philadelphia and still managed to intercept six passes in 12 games in 2022. While it’s not like all of those interceptions were incredible plays, there’s something to be said for making the play when it comes to you . and CJGJ did it in 2022. Heck, Gardner-Johnson had 6 INTs in 12 games in 2022 and the entire team without him had 9 in 17 games in 2023.
The Eagles will appreciate that kind of playmaking ability on the back end of their defense. There’s a real chance that Gardner-Johnson’s best days at safety are ahead of him and there’s still a chance that the Eagles can utilize his versatility as well.
The reason Gardner-Johnson is back with the Eagles is because of his play on the field.
But it will be fun to see his personality again on the bench and in the locker room as well. Gardner-Johnson is a unique guy with a mercurial personality, as this profile from early in the 2022 season explains.
Gardner-Johnson is bold. He can be loud. He speaks s-. He is arrogant. He brings juice to practices and games. In many ways, Gardner-Johnson seems like a perfect personality to interact with Eagles fans.
And you don’t want to repress those characteristics; you want to take advantage of them.
There’s no guarantee the Gardner-Johnson deal will work. You can never really tell in free agency and his injury history is a legitimate concern.
But there’s also a chance he returns and thrives with the Eagles. And after everything that happened a year ago, the fact that he’s back is pretty impressive.
Subscribe to Eagle Eye wherever you get your podcasts:
Apple Podcasts | Youtube music | Spotify | Seamstress | Art19 | RSS | Watch on YouTube