Barely a month after he was celebrating a Super Bowl LIX victory in New Orleans, C.J. Gardner-Johnson was packing his bags for Houston.
Gardner-Johnson was a starter for the Philadelphia Eagles in their Super Bowl win on Feb. 9. Less than two weeks into March, Gardner-Johnson was traded to the Houston Texans.
It's a move CJGJ didn't see coming and that he admits still hasn't settled in.
"To be honest with you, I'm still shocked, but I'm happy," Gardner-Johnson said Tuesday, via team transcript. "New, fresh start, meet new guys. I think the biggest thing I've noticed is this team is very young. So, being one of the oldest guys in the room, you've got to realize we're here for business, here to have fun, but we're also here to win football. So, being around those guys, I kind of got a feel for them first couple of days and how to go about things here."
The here and now for Gardner-Johnson is with the fourth team of his NFL career and his third squad in as many seasons.
Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman explained the trading of CJGJ as a financial decision.
Regardless of why the Eagles shipped him out, Gardner-Johnson is smiling on the situation. The 27-year-old, six-year veteran believes he's being forced to take on a leadership role in a talented but youthful secondary, which boasts the likes of Derek Stingley Jr. and Kamari Lassiter.
"I think it was a great move for me," he said. "I think it allowed me not to get too comfortable. People have to understand I was comfortable where I was at. It was easy. When I say easy, it was I had resources I could easily access, people I could just go talk to. I think moving here, being the older guy, I actually have to grow up. That's a funny statement, but growing up and teaching guys it's more than just football. Being traded multiple times, I think people would shadow it by the things I've done in the league. But in reality, I just love playing football."
Gardner-Johnson was a 2019 NFL Draft fourth-round pick of the New Orleans Saints. He played three seasons for the Saints before he was traded to the Eagles and promptly led the NFL with six interceptions in 2022. He moved on to the Detroit Lions, but played in just three 2023 games due to an injury. He returned last year to Philly and started 16 games, equaled his career-high six picks and posted 59 tackles.
With everything going so well last year, it's not that arduous to understand why it's been so difficult for Gardner-Johnson to come to grips with being traded. He doesn't believe he has that luxury any longer, though.
"I think the emotional state for me right now is cool," he said. "You can't get too much business. But I know there's other guys that's depending on me when I got to the team, so I've got to make sure that I'm where my feet are. But mentally, I'm going to do what I need to do."
Leaving the glory achieved with the Eagles behind him and moving on to the next endeavor at hand is a way of thinking Gardner-Johnson believes isn't just the right approach for himself, but a message to pass along to his new -- and impressionable -- teammates. Houston is coming off back-to-back Divisional Round runs, and CJGJ might just be an addition that will help the Texans to a longer postseason run in 2025.
"You're going to get scored on, you're going to get run over, you're going to get run past, but I think why my teammates love me is because I don't let it sit on my mind," he said. "I don't let it dawn on me because at the end of the day, plays last, what, five, six seconds? You've got another one right after it. So, for me, coming here is just installing the next-play mentality. I don't care what you did last week. You may have caught a pick this play, but next play you might get scored on. So, I think having that hunger of always wanting to win. I could be losing after the littlest blocking drill in practice, it's going to make me mad. So, I think the littlest things, you've got to care about and if you don't care about them, then why are you in the league?"
Gardner-Johnson would seem to have plenty more time in the league. He's in the AFC for the first time, though, doing his best to get past the shock of being traded by the reigning Super Bowl champs and aiming to move on with the back-to-back AFC South titlists.
