Ravens Sign Super Bowl Champion DB

The seventh-year veteran was released by the Houston Texans on Sept. 23 after being acquired by the team via trade this offseason from the Philadelphia Eagles, after being a key cog in a dominant Super Bowl-winning defense last season. He was shipped along with a 2026 sixth-round pick in exchange for a 2026 fifth-round pick and former first-round interior offensive lineman Kenyon Green, who he will be joining on the Ravens' practice squad.

Gardner-Johnson is one of the most controversial yet still highly impactful defensive backs in the league, with schematic flexibility, instinctual playmaking ability and intense physicality he brings to any defensive unit he is on, almost all of which are traits the Ravens have been missing this year.

Baltimore will mark the fifth different team in his career and fourth in the last five. In between his two separate stints in Philadelphia in 2022 and 2024, Gardner-Johnson spent the 2023 season with the Detroit Lions, who made it to the NFC Championship for the first time since 1991 and just the second time in franchise history. The Eagles advanced to the Super Bowl in both of his seasons with the team.

Where Gardner-Johnson goes, success often follows, especially as of late. While his presence won't solve all of the Ravens' issues on defense, such as defensive lineman getting off blocks and getting bullied in the trenches, he is a sure-tackler, hard-hitter and proven playmaker with amazing ball skills. He has 18 career interceptions, 13 of which have come in the past three seasons, including 6 apiece in both of his seasons with the Eagles.

Like homegrown All Pro Kyle Hamilton and first-round rookie Malaki Starks, the 27-year-old is capable of playing either safety spot as well in the slot at nickel. While he has developed a reputation for rubbing teammates and coaches the wrong way with his brash personality, the Ravens have been an organization that prides itself on letting players be themselves as long as it's not getting in the way of achieving their ultimate goal of reaching the Super Bowl.

For a team that was forced to start five rookies in their embarrassing loss to the Texans in Week 5, including three in the secondary alone, bringing in an experienced and still relatively young veteran presence like Gardner-Johnson to the fold might be just what the Ravens defense and locker room overall need right now.