C.J. Gardner-Johnson says he understands why the Eagles traded him

The former Philadelphia safety said there is “no bad blood” with the organization.

It seems safe to say a lot of Philadelphia Eagles aren’t very happy with the team trading C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the Houston Texans.

As for CJGJ himself? He actually seems to be pretty understanding of the move.

CJGJ had the following to say during a recent live stream (transcript below):

CJGJ: “I ain’t going to lie to y’all, I thought it was April Fools. I ain’t gon’ lie. I saw 3/1 and I was like, man, this is April Fools, they damn sure got me, they playin’ crazy with me right now. But nah, wasn’t no love lost, wasn’t no bad blood, it was a great phone call. Great phone call. It was an amazing phone call, to be all the way thorough. Great phone call. Situation is, them young guys gotta get paid in Philly. Jalen Carter, Reed [Blankenship], Zack [Baun]. All them guys gotta get their money, they deserve it. Me getting older, so I gotta understand, like, there was no bad blood. There was none. Shit, all I asked them was like, between me and y’all, like I told them, I just want to go somewhere where I can play winning football. I ain’t ask for a specific place. This is honesty. I just want to play winning football. Other than that, you know, I woke up the next day and, boom, there it is. So, shit, we in Houston.

The note about “young guys gotta get paid” is basically what the Eagles’ messaging (via reporters) is in the wake of the CJGJ trade.

So, the Eagles were seemingly upfront with CJGJ and he seemingly respects their decision to move on.

Unfortunate that he’s gone but still nice to see there’s “no bad blood” between the team and a key player who contributed to their Super Bowl LIX win.