Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson is joining his third organization of the 2025 season. The Bears are signing the 27-year-old to their active roster, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
Gardner-Johnson appeared in 16 of the Eagles’ regular-season games in 2024 and tied a career high with six interceptions. He was also part of the Eagles’ Super Bowl-winning playoff run, but they parted with him after the season.
In a trade that hasn’t worked out for either side, the Eagles sent Gardner-Johnson and a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Texans for offensive lineman Kenyon Green and a fifth-rounder in next year’s draft.
Green, who couldn’t crack the Eagles’ roster, is now a member of the Ravens’ practice squad. Gardner-Johnson lasted just three games in Houston before the team released him. He reportedly clashed with teammates and was unhappy with his role in the Texans’ defense.
After the Texans said goodbye to him, Gardner-Johnson joined Green on the Ravens’ practice squad. It was a short-lived stay, however, as the Ravens parted with him a week later. Gardner-Johnson signed with Baltimore before the team acquired safety Alohi Gilman from the Chargers. With Gilman’s arrival blocking a path to playing time, Gardner-Johnson’s agent asked for his client’s release. The Ravens granted it.
After a couple of weeks on the open market, Gardner-Johnson will indeed find a clearer avenue to playing time on Chicago’s active roster. He’ll also reunite with defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, who coached Gardner-Johnson in New Orleans from 2019-21. Those were Gardner-Johnson’s first three NFL seasons, a 43-game span in which he picked off five passes. Allen left a positive impression on Gardner-Johnson.
“He got my career going. I appreciate him,” Gardner-Johnson told the CHGO Bears podcast last February.
While the 4-3 Bears have two established starting safeties in Jaquan Brisker and Kevin Byard, who lead their defense in snaps, their secondary is dealing with multiple significant injuries. Cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon are on IR. A groin injury has kept Johnson out since Week 1, while Gordon landed on the shelf with calf and groin issues before the Bears’ loss to the Ravens last Sunday. Gordon is Chicago’s top nickel corner, but the addition of Gardner-Johnson could help fill the void during his absence.