New Houston Texans safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson isn’t known as one of the NFL’s quietest players. If he has something to say, on or off the field, he’s going to be heard.
When his former defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio, said he was “That was a salary cap thing... I was fine with it” concerning Gardner-Johnson’s trade to Houston, the former Philadelphia Eagle responded on social media.
"Just don't do them young guys like y'all did me," Gardner-Johnson wrote on a now-expired Instagram Story.
“I was a test dummy for them,” Gardner-Johnson, 27, wrote in a separate now-expired Instagram Story. “So now they can be like my ‘scheme’ work, or did my skill set make it work.
“I had 0 issues. [People] had issues with me. So yeah let the salary cap be the ‘excuse.'”
Gardner-Johnson played for the Eagles in 2022 and 2024, recording 12 of his career 18 interceptions and playing in two Super Bowls. After playing for the Detroit Lions in 2023, he signed a three-year, $27 million contract which he will now finish in Houston after being traded in exchange for guard Kenyon Green and a fifth-round pick in next year’s draft.
Gardner-Johnson has had mixed words concerning his single season in Philadelphia since the trade occurred. When the trade was announced, he expressed his understanding at the trade and expressed his gratitude to the city and team that made him a Super Bowl champion.
“The decision wasn’t mine, but I walk away proud of what we built together,” he wrote in an Instagram post in March. “Becoming a 2-time NFC champion and Super Bowl Champion, the forced fumbles and game-sealing interceptions - those moments belong to US. You taught me that greatness isn’t about highlights - it’s about clawing back, harder and fiercer, just like this city does every day.”
“Them young guys just gotta get paid down there,” Gardner-Johnson said in a live stream shortly after the trade announcement. “All I asked them was to trade me somewhere I can play winning football, and I woke up and boom there it is, we in Houston.”
Gardner-Johnson has criticized his former teams in the past, calling his year in Detroit “Hell” despite the franchise experiencing its most successful season in modern history. He’s also given the Saints verbal jabs, most recently calling them “pretenders” ahead of a Week 3 contest last season because their quarterback was Derek Carr.
Still, past teammates, especially those in Philadelphia, have backed up Gardner-Johnson’s loud personality and credit his playmaking ability back to his attitude.
“There’s real passion behind C.J.’s game,” Eagles cornerback Sydney Brown said via NJ.com. “You see it every day. He speaks it. He believes it. It’s an everyday thing. The ability to come with that energy every single day, you know it’s passion and not just like a front. It’s the passion he has for the game. He loves football. He works at it.”
