“Must keep!” Ryan Clark believes C.J. Gardner-Johnson is as ‘important’ as Jalen Hurts for the Eagles amidst rumors of him leaving Philadelphia
Defensive back C.J. Gardner Johnson is expected to leave Philadelphia in free agency.
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The Philadelphia Eagles surprised a lot of people last season by making it all the way to the Super Bowl led by their QB Jalen Hurts. They lost the big game against the Kansas City Chiefs in a slugfest but the franchise is hoping to bank on the successful season and build a team around their star quarterback in hopes of winning the Super Bowl in near future. However, they have a lot of work to do ahead of the free agency especially in keeping their star players with their team including the defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
During the 2022 off-season, the Eagles acquired C.J. Gardner-Johnson from the New Orleans Saints via trade. And that turned out to be a remarkable trade since the talented defensive back exploded in his make-or-break year and played an important role in the Eagles’ success. The 25-year-old defensive back registered six interceptions in the 2022 regular season, which is one more than his previous three seasons combined.
And now, the Eagles have an important decision to make. With the franchise tag window behind them, the Philadelphia-based football team either has to pay him or lose him to another team. Furthermore, the Eagles would be working a contract extension for their third-year quarterback Jalen Hurts, so they wouldn’t want to pay a defensive back a lot of money.
Ryan Clark believes C.J. Gardner-Johnson is as important as Jalen Hurts
While the Eagles are trying to reach a middle ground on the contract extension deal with their defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson, ESPN analyst and former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back Ryan Clark claim that Gardner-Johnson is as important as the Pro Bowl QB Jalen Hurts for the Eagles.
“He is the spark plug on this backend, he is the guy that tie in every single thing,” said Ryan Clark during the recent episode of the show NFL Live on ESPN. “I think he is a must-keep for the Philadelphia Eagles and I’m not saying or comparing the two, but as important as Jalen Hurts is to this offense, I believe C.J. Gardner-Johnson plugs in the exact same way defensively.”
While it’s not a good comparison, Ryan Clark might still have a point about how much Gardner-Johnson has impacted the Eagles. Moreover, good defensive backs are very hard to find in the league, so the Philadelphia Eagles would certainly think twice before letting him walk in the upcoming free agency.
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Aravind Raj
(2075 Articles Published)