In 2023 free agency, the Detroit Lions signed safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to a one-year deal and it looked like a steal. He was coming of tying for the league lead in interceptions the year before, and he would certainly add confidence and swagger the secondary needed.
But things did not go anywhere near as planned, as Gardner-Johnson suffered a torn pectoral in Week 2 and missed most of the season. He returned for the regular season finale, before playing in all three playoff games last year. As he hit free agency again last March, it became clear Gardner-Johnson would not be back with the Lions.
After spending the 2022 season with the Philadelphia Eagles, Gardner-Johnson signed a multi-year deal back with them last offseason. That also means he'll play in the Super Bowl for the second time in the last three years on Sunday, as he rebounded with six interceptions during the regular season.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson proves again that the Lions are better off without him
Upon his departure, Gardner-Johnson for some reason felt he needed to take a parting shot at Lions fans and most of his now-former teammates on social media. During Super Bowl media availability on Thursday, he took another opportunity to slam the Lions.
"It was hell,” Gardner-Johnson told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, regarding his season in Detroit. “I got lied to, so it was, whatever. I got told, respectfully, I was going to get brought back and didn’t get brought back. And offseason went real for me, signing back here because I wasn’t really tripping on it. It all worked out.”
Gardner-Johnson briefly called his one season in Detroit "successful" since he "got back on the field and I got to play ball", but then he went back to slamming the Lions.
"Truthfully, like in Detroit it was hell,” he said. “I went there just to — OK, when I got hurt I was like, ‘(Expletive) it.’ Truthfully. That's why I didn't go rehab there.”
Gardner-Johnson said he did most of his rehab in Florida because he didn't think he had a future with the Lions.
"I was on a one-year deal, so it was like there was no point unless they were really bringing me back,” he said. “By the time midseason came and I was getting healthy, they wasn’t trying to extend me, I’m like, ‘I'm cool.’”
So Gardner-Johnson wanted the Lions to give him a contract extension in the middle of his rehab from a significant injury....as if any other team would have done so.
Asked then if he felt he should have rehabbed in Detroit to help his chances of being re-signed, Gardner-Johnson shrugged off that idea.
“I mean, to be respectfully, if I stayed there or left, the respect level wasn't there. I'm one of the most winning safeties in football", Gardner-Johnson said, as he added "everybody" in the Lions' organization lied to him about his future, apparently changing their minds about re-signing him after last year's playoffs,
"It was just certain people at front office that just, business is business,” he said. “Whatever. I’m not upset.”
During Gardner-Johnson's lengthy absence last season, then-rookie Brian Branch stepped up as the Lions' primary slot corner and was excellent. Gardner-Johnson made it clear immediately upon his return to action that he was not thrilled about the idea of sharing snaps with Branch and Kerby Joseph, then he played less than 55 percent of the defensive snaps in two of the three postseason games.
"I got benched because Iffy (ifeatu Melifonwu) took my spot. He had a good run and they thought — and he didn't end up starting this year, which was crazy. You see where they’re at, you see where I’m at,” Gardner-Johnson said.
Someone should have told Gardner-Johnson that Melifonwu missed the first 14 games this season due to injuries, which further proves the ridiculous of his entire rant against the Lions.
Gardner-Johnson praised now-departed Lions' defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and Jameson Williams, calling Williams "the best receiver on that team."
Gardner-Johnson can say he's not "upset", "wasn't really tripping on it" and "business is business" regarding the Lions not re-signing him after he played a total of six games for them. But saying what he said shows the exact opposite, and he offered more proof the Lions are better off without him.