Latest Dustup Highlights Eagles' Move Away From Playmaker

The odds are against anyone winning a Super Bowl, even the reigning champion Eagles, who remain one of the more talented teams in football by any accounting measure.

That said, there are too many things that have to go right to call any organization a lock to win at the highest level unless you want to break out some “Steiner Math” (shout out to the pro wrestling fans out there) to make yourself feel a little bit better.

That’s what makes the latest kerfuffle between deposed Eagles playmaking safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and presumed Philadelphia faithful a waste of “valuable Instagram time.”

And that oxymoron is offered with tongue firmly planted in cheek. 

The details of CJGJ’s latest look back in the rearview mirror came on Instagram Live when the always passionate interception machine took issue with a comment from one rando who commented: "You won't see another ring without Philly."

Gardner-Johnson’s response predictably took the anecdotal route tethered to his two seasons in Philadelphia (2022 and 2024), which resulted in 12 interceptions, two NFC championships, and a Lombardi Trophy for the Eagles.

The 2023 outlier season without Gardner-Johnson turned from a 10-1 start to a full-fledged collapse to 11-7 and one and one in the postseason, perhaps fueled most by the passing defense, which was among the NFL’s worst under Sean Desai and Matt Patricia.

"That's crazy," Gardner-Johnson said. "They probably won't see one without me. F@#$ you talking about? You saw what happened when I left [the first time]. I'm popping now. (F@#%) you talking about, I'm glad I'm in Texas. They say everything is better in Texas."

The taxes are certainly better in Texas, and so is the weather. 

The Houston Texans, Gardner-Johnson’s new team after being dealt for cash purposes, are also very talented, so perhaps Gardner-Johnson should start living his best life in the Lone Star State instead of revisiting the organization that decided to bail on the CJGJ experience for the second time in three years despite that on-field success.

The smart money is that the Eagles won’t repeat without Gardner-Johnson and the Texans won’t quite get over the hump with him.

You always want players who believe in themselves, but you also want players who are disciplined enough to ignore social media trolls.

In what is often called "the greatest team sport there is" by Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, the idea of downplaying Gardner-Johnson’s importance to a Super Bowl LIX championship is as unfair as assuming it was the Mission Impossible-like “Dead Reckoning” key that turns correlation into causation.

In that same vein, the sentiment that a rookie like Drew Mukuba, or others left in the safety competition like Sydney Brown, Tristin McCollum, Andre Sam’ or Lewis Cine are seamlessly stepping in to offer similar production to Gardner-Johnson en route to an Eagles’ Super Bowl LX championship seems far-fetched. 

However, the dustup does highlight one of life’s truths you’re not going to find in any social media marketing material: time is better spent doing something productive.