The intrigue of C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the Bears

For a player who was on the street after being traded by the Eagles in March and cut by the Texans and Ravens already this season, defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson is an intriguing acquisition by the Bears. Not only can he provide needed help on the field — he led the Super Bowl champion Eagles with six interceptions last season — but Gardner-Johnson is the edgy kind of player the Bears' locker room needs.

There's a fine line, of course, between the volatile personality of a player like Gardner-Johnson galvanizing an NFL locker room and disrupting it. And it's a much tougher dynamic when the player arrives in late October. But in the right situation, it can have a ripple effect for the better, and for a Bears team that almost has too many nice guys, it's worth the risk. This team needs to develop an edge, on and off the field — an underrated part of the Bears' development under Ben Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles.

"I think on each side of the ball — offense, defense, special teams — you need at least one or two of those guys on the field," Bears safety Kevin Byard told reporters Wednesday, "because they bring a certain level of juice. This game is played violently. You need somebody to go in there and be that spark."

Gardner-Johnson has a well-earned reputation as an irritant who seeks confrontation and seems to not only embrace the role, but is invigorated by it. It's like it fuels his performance. In a player poll by The Athletic last year, he was a landslide winner as the "most annoying" player in the league — his 20.9% of the vote almost double that of runner-up Christian Wilkins of the Raiders.

Bears fans know him all too well. In two games against the Bears in 2020, Gardner-Johnson goaded two players into retaliations that earned ejections — a particularly vicious one from wide receiver Javon Wims in the regular season and an absolutely ridiculous one by wide receiver Anthony Miller in the wild-card playoff game after everyone had been warned not to fall for Gardner-Johnson's antics. Let the record show that the Saints won both games.

That's been Gardner-Johnson's m.o. since he came to the NFL in 2019 as a fourth-round draft pick by the Saints in 2019. He's been called for unnecessary roughness or unsportsmanlike conduct 10 times in six seasons. In Week 16 last year, with the 12-2 Eagles on a 10-game winning streak, Gardner-Johnson was ejected early in the third quarter for a second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for taunting following a takeaway. Jayden Daniels threw three touchdown passes after Gardner-Johnson left and the Eagles lost 36-33.

But that approach also makes him good at his job and when managed properly seems to help more than hurt. Maybe it's a coincidence, but Gardner-Johnson has a history of being on winning teams that are better with him than without him — the Saints in 2019 (13-3), 2020 (12-4) and 2021 (9-8); the Eagles in 2022 (14-3), the Lions in 2023 (12-5) and the Eagles again in 2024 (14-3).

The 2021 Saints, in fact, were 9-3 when Gardner-Johnson played and 0-5 when he didn’t. The Eagles improved from 18th to eighth in points allowed (and went to the Super Bowl) when they acquired Gardner-Johnson under coordinator Jonathan Gannon in 2022. They dropped to 30th (and lost 32-9 in the wild-card round) when Gardner-Johnson left for the Lions in 2023. And the Eagles leaped to second in scoring defense (and won the Super Bowl) when they reacquired Gardner-Johnson under Vic Fangio in 2024. Gardner-Johnson is 9-4 in the playoffs in his seven-year NFL career.

Whether it's Gardner-Johnson or anyone else, the Bears, as Byard pointed out, need more of those kind of guys. The Bears have a lot of nice guys — including some key players — who have never been on a winning team in the NFL — defensive end Montez Sweat (45-77 in seven seasons), wide receiver DJ Moore (42-64-1 in eight seasons), tight end Cole Kmet (33-58 in six seasons), defensive tackle Andrew Billings (45-78 in eight seasons) and cornerback Jaylon Johnson (33-58 in six seasons) among them.

Even the Bears players who have playoff experience, like Joe Thuney, T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds, let their play do the talking. Gardner-Johnson brings more than that. It's up to the Bears — coaches and teammates — to manage him so he doesn't cross the line. And it can be done.

"Obviously, you guys know the history this city," Byard said. "Dennis Rodman — sometimes you need guys like that out there. I think our leadership group can hold things together. I don't personally think he'll be an issue. He's been around this defense. I've got a lot of respect for him. He's got a lot of respect. for me. So I think we'll be good to go."

Then again, it's a little disconcerting that Gardner-Johnson has been discarded by three playoff teams in the last seven months. The Eagles traded him to the Texans for after he led them in interceptions in 2024 (but also allowed nine touchdowns on pass coverage plays, according to Pro Football Focus) and still had a manageable salary cap hit ($3.7 million).

The Texans cut him after three starts (all losses, but hardly defensive lapses — 14-9, 20-19, 17-10). And the Ravens, with the 29th-ranked defense in points allowed and passing yards allowed, cut Gardner-Johnson from their practice squad after acquiring safety Alohi Gilman from the Chargers.

Gardner-Johnson is a long shot to be anything more than a short-term boost for a depleted secondary — if he's that. He'll be playing for slot cornerback Kyler Gordon, who could return in Week 12 against the Steelers. And a player such as Gardner-Johnson needs to play to maximize his value on the team. He's not Josh Blackwell of Elijah Hicks.

But with the Bears needing help in the secondary and Johnson and Dennis Allen both having familiarity with Gardner-Johnson that the Bears didn't have with wide receiver Chase Claypool in 2022, it's a free roll that can have a bigger payoff than expected.

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