Bears Signing S C.J. Gardner-Johnson

Bears DC Dennis Allen is familiar with Gardner-Johnson from their time together in New Orleans and has some sense of how to manage the veteran. 

Chicago will be Gardner-Johnson’s seventh team in the last five years. He wasn’t playing all that well when the Texans surprisingly released him earlier this season, in addition to there being some reported locker room friction. 

He had a stint with the Ravens but asked for his release to pursue opportunities for more playing time. 

Gardner-Johnson, 27, is a former fourth-round pick of the Saints from Florida back in 2019. He was entering the final year of his four-year rookie contract and was set to make a base salary of $2.54 million when the Saints traded him to the Eagles during the preseason. 

Gardner-Johnson was testing the open market as an unrestricted free agent for the first time and signed a one-year, $8 million deal with the Lions. He was placed on injured reserve after just two games with Detroit.

He returned to the Eagles on a three-year, $27 million deal last March but was traded to Houston for G Kenyon Green earlier this offseason. The Texans then released him after just a few games. 

In 2025, Gardner-Johnson has appeared in three games for the Texans and recorded 15 total tackles. 

We’ll have more on Gardner-Johnson as the news is available.