C.J. Gardner-Johnson says he was lied to during stint with Lions: "It was hell"

   

C.J. Gardner-Johnson has always had a lot to say. And this is what he says of his stint with the Lions last season: "It was hell."

C.J. Gardner-Johnson: Stint with Detroit Lions "was hell”

The star safety for the Eagles who's preparing to play in the Super Bowl on Sunday said this week that he didn't feel respected by the Lions once he tore his pec in Week 2 last season and missed most of the year and that the team misled him about his future in Detroit.

"It was hell," Gardner-Johnson said Thursday in New Orleans, via the Free Press. "I got lied to, so it was, whatever. I got told, respectfully, I was going to get brought back and didn’t get brought back. And offseason went real for me, signing back here because I wasn’t really tripping on it. It all worked out."

Gardner-Johnson reunited with the Eagles on a three-year, $27 million deal and caught six interceptions, matching his career high from his first stint with Philly in 2022 when he helped the team reach the Super Bowl. The Eagles lost that game to the Chiefs, setting the stage for Sunday's rematch.

When Gardner-Johnson was injured early last season, he decided to rehab in Florida because he said he didn’t see a future for himself in Detroit: "When I got hurt I was like, '(Expletive) it.' Truthfully. That's why I didn't go rehab there."

"I was on a one-year deal, so it was like there was no point unless they were really bringing me back," he said. "By the time midseason came and I was getting healthy, they wasn’t trying to extend me, I’m like, 'I'm cool.'"

Asked if he should have done his rehab in Detroit to help his chances of re-signing with the Lions, Gardner-Johnson said, "If I stayed there or left, the respect level wasn't there. I'm one of the most winning safeties in football."

Gardner-Johnson, 27, said "everybody" with the Lions told him they wanted him back before changing their mind after Detroit's loss to the 49ers in the NFC championship. Asked specifically who lied to him, he said, "It was certain people at front office that just, business is business. Whatever. I’m not upset."

Gardner-Johnson, who had returned for the season finale and played in all three of the Lions' playoff games, picked up a personal foul against the 49ers stemming from his beef with Deebo Samuel, something Dan Campbell had warned him against entering the game.

"I really felt like it was more so towards after the game they felt some way," he said. "After like one missed tackle and a blown coverage that wasn't on me. I guess I became the villain of the team."

On a personal level, Gardner-Johnson deemed his one season with the Lions "successful" because "I got back on the field and I got to play ball." But he's much happier where he is now, ready for the bright lights of the Super Bowl.

He chuckled three times, according to the Free Press, and said, "You see where they’re at, you see where I’m at."