Buffalo Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson has rightly earned a reputation as one of the NFL’s more boisterous trash-talkers, but there’s another association with Gardner-Johnson that the veteran would like to immediately dispel as he prepares for his first season with the Bills: that he’s a locker room cancer who gets under the skin of both opposing players and guys on his own team.
Today’s edition of Buffalo Rumblinks leads off by hearing how Gardner-Johnson is motivated to help lead the Bills’ defense in the first season under new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, why he thinks he’s bounced between seven teams during his seven years in the league, and why he feels NFL teams have wrongly labeled him as a “cancer in the locker room.”
C.J. Gardner-Johnson ready to change the narrative with Bills
C.J. Gardner-Johnson has proven himself to be one of the preeminent takeaway artists in the league since coming into the NFL as a fourth-round selection (pick No. 105) by the New Orleans Saints in the 2019 draft.
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But he’s also bounced from team to team during his tenure, playing for the Saints, Philadelphia Eagles (twice), Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Baltimore Ravens, and Chicago Bears before Brandon Beane signed Gardner-Johnson in March to a one-year, $3.5 million contract that could be worth as much as $6 million with incentives.
For his career, he has picked off 20 passes and broken up 55 more. He’s made 370 tackles (including seven sacks) and forced three forced fumbles, and has reached the playoffs in six of his seven seasons and won a Super Bowl with the Eagles, takes umbrage with the notion that he wears out his welcome with his teammates.
“One of the narratives is I’m a cancer in the locker room,” Gardner-Johnson told The Athletic’s Tim Graham. “Where have I been a cancer?”
Beane did his homework before signing Gardner-Johnson, getting glowing recommendations from new wide receiver D.J. Moore, who played with Gardner-Johnson last season with the Bears, and defensive quality control coach Craig Robertson, who played with Gardner-Johnson in New Orleans.
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So far so good in Buffalo for the outspoken safety, who was named the NFL’s most annoying player and its biggest trash talker in The Athletic’s anonymous annual player polls.
“He loves football, right?” Leonhard said. “The day-to-day, the workouts, the meetings, he’s a guy who loves being in the building. He’s trying to be a leader, man. He really wants to be that. So it’s exciting, being able to work with guys that really want to be in front of the room and talk and hold people accountable.”
“I feel like a kid again,” Gardner-Johnson said. “I feel like me again, feel like the kid who got drafted and had to prove himself again. … I’m going to win the next two out of three Super Bowls. How? Look where they placed me at. Look who’s my quarterback. If I got a f—— fighting chance, it’s over with.”
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