Controversial Former Eagles Safety Finds New Home in NFC North
This isn’t how things should be going for a player as talented as former Philadelphia Eagles safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.
In 2024, Gardner-Johnson started 16 games and led the Eagles with 6 interceptions on the way to winning Super Bowl LIX. Now, he’s on his fifth team in 3 years after ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Wednesday, October 29, that he has signed with the Chicago Bears.
“Bears are signing S Chauncey Gardner-Johnson to their active roster after his visit yesterday, per his agents,” Schefter wrote on his official X account. “Gardner-Johnson now reunites with Bears DC Dennis Allen, who coached him with the New Orleans Saints.”
It’s the third team this season alone for Gardner-Johnson, who was traded from the Eagles to the Houston Texans in March along with a 2026 sixth round pick in exchange for former first round pick and offensive guard Kenyon Green and a 2025 fifth round pick.
The Texans released Gardner-Johnson on September 23 — after just 3 games — and he signed with the Baltimore Ravens practice squad on October 8 but was released before being placed on the active roster.
Gardner-Johnson, Texans Butted Heads Quickly
If you’re looking for a reason why a featured player on a Super Bowl champion ends up bouncing around the NFL like he’s in some kind of real life pinball machine just 6 months later, it’s because Gardner-Johnson has what an elementary school gym teacher might kindly describe as an attitude problem.
CJGJ also played for the Eagles in 2022, when he led the NFL in interceptions and played in another Super Bowl.
“Among the issues Texans experienced behind the scenes with C.J. Gardner–Johnson, per sources, he was critical of teammates in the secondary and didn’t like his role,” Houston KPRC’s Aaron Wilson wrote on his official X account. “It was a locker room issue and ultimately this just wasn’t a good fit for the team and for a talented player … after friction behind the scenes with him complaining about his role, wanting to blitz more, per league sources, and even communicating that he wanted to be traded. It didn’t work out for him here.”
Gardner-Johnson’s Career Full of Controversy
In an anonymous poll of 110 NFL players by The Athletic released in November 2024, Gardner-Johnson was the runaway winner in a poll asking who was looked as the NFL’s most annoying player.
From The Athletic: “Last season we asked players to name the biggest trash-talker. This year, we broadened the question to most annoying, leaving it to the players’ discretion to decide what qualified as annoying. Well, last year’s biggest trash-talker, Philadelphia Eagles defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson, took the crown again.”
One thing Gardner-Johnson did from the moment his NFL career began was start to rack up fines. Since 2019, Gardner-Johnson has been fined 9 times for “agitator” type incidents, including twice for fighting and once for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Johnson spent the first 3 seasons of his career with the Saints and also played one season with the Detroit Lions in 2023.
When Gardner-Johnson isn’t taking a flamethrower to his own career, he’s been impossible to keep off the field. In 6 seasons, he has 18 career interceptions and has started 64 out of 77 career games.
Pittsburgh Steelers sign versatile former Philadelphia Eagles player
The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed former Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Jack Driscoll to their practice squad, the team announced. Driscoll has played both tackle spots and can kick inside to guard. Given the Steelers’ insistence on running a jumbo set, he can also play there, having played 21 career snaps.
Driscoll was the Eagles’ fourth-round pick out of Auburn in the 2020 NFL Draft. He has started in 18 games and played in 67 games over his career. After his rookie contract expired following the 2023 season, Driscoll was let go by the Eagles and signed a deal with the Miami Dolphins.
After the Dolphins released him, he was re-signed by the Eagles and eventually joined their active roster. He has not been signed by a team since the Super Bowl, and the Steelers will be his first landing spot.
Standing at 6-foot-4, 306 pounds, Driscoll has 33-inch arms and has become a versatile player who can play all over the offensive line. Driscoll has dealt with some injuries in his career, including a season-ending knee injury in 2020.
The Steelers brought him in for added depth following the injury to starting left guard Isaac Seumalo, who is battling a pectoral strain.
