Jan 26, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson (8) gestures before the NFC Championship game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bill Streicher
C.J. Gardner-Johnson had some regrettable social media exchanges with Eagles fans after he departed Philadelphia the first time. It doesn't look like he'll be repeating that mistake.
Shortly after the relatively surprising news broke Tuesday morning that the Eagles were trading Gardner-Johnson to the Houston Texans, the 27-year-old safety had a simple message for Eagles fans on X:
"I love you Philly, we forever champions 🦅," he wrote.
(We would love to actually have the tweet embedded in the article, but embeds continue to be unavailable as part of the issues that X has had over the last 24 or so hours.)
After spending a year with the Detroit Lions in 2023, Gardner Johnson returned to the Eagles last offseason on a three-year/$27 million deal that guaranteed him $10 million. He brought back with him an edge, and also recorded six interceptions during the regular season. Given that he had no guaranteed money left after the 2025 season, it's fair to wonder if Gardner-Johnson was pushing for a new deal after helping the Eagles to win Super Bowl LIX.
Rather than give a new deal — if that's indeed something the 27-year-old wanted — the Eagles traded him and a 2026 sixth round pick to Houston for offensive guard Kenyon Green and a 2026 fifth-round pick, per ESPN's Adam Schefter and DJ Bien-Aime.
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