C.J. Gardner-Johnson REUNION In New Orleans? Saints News & Rumors

C.J. Gardner-Johnson REUNION In New Orleans? Saints News & Rumors

Breaking news across the National Football League. Former Saints legend CJ Gardner Johnson has been surprisingly released by the Houston Texans. So, before I give you my take and break down this idea for the New Orleans Saints potentially having a reunion with CD Deuce, get in the comment section. Would you bring him back to New Orleans? Type yes, type no. get in the comments section and let’s have a really really interesting conversation about a former Saints player. You’re watching Saints Now by Chat Sports. As always, I’m your host Trisy Trace Gerard. Thank you so much for tuning into this sort of breaking news edition of Saints Now by Chat Sports. Obviously, we have to have a conversation because former Saints player, he gets cut. So, we’re going to talk about potentially bringing him back. I want to make one thing explicitly clear here. I don’t necessarily think bringing CJ Gardenner Johnson back would make a lot of sense. That being said, I think the role that he would provide is something that the New Orleans Saints are missing. So, let’s kind of recap this news and kind of recap the past few years for CJ Gardenner Johnson. Remember, he was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the fourth round out of Florida all the way back in 2019. spent some time in New Orleans, then gets traded to Philadelphia, then heads over to Detroit, goes back to Philadelphia, traded to the Houston Texans. So, that brings us here today where now CJ Gardner Johnson is a free agent. So, if you were to bring in this player and add him to the roster, it would not be a trade. All you would have to do is go sign him, make a call, and say, “Hey, let’s put pen to paper.” So, for the simplicity aspect of this and the lack of a trade, I can say I am at least a tiny bit interested in this. Again, I go back to what I said a little bit ago. I don’t know necessarily if I would bring CD Deuce back to the boot. Now, for the last four seasons since he left New Orleans, CJ Gardner Johnson has had some really, really interesting run in Detroit. He only played three games, but in Philadelphia, won a Super Bowl. Has played three games for the Houston Texans. already kind of bickering back and forth with NFC South quarterback Baker Mayfield. Pretty funny moment there. Uh Baker, funnily enough, called CJ Garner Johnson just chanty to his face, which is absolutely hilarious if you ask me. But you can see the production on your screen. He’s had some good numbers when he’s healthy. However, he has only been available in three games for two of the last four years. 2022, you see he missed a handful of games as well. So, when it comes to CJ Gardner Johnson, my whole take with why are we having this conversation? because I believe the Saints need somebody like CJ Gardner Johnson. I think that the defense needs a player like CJ Gardner Johnson. And I fear what you just heard me say is the Saints need CJ Gardenner Johnson. But what I actually said is they need a player like CJ Gardner Johnson. I want somebody with swagger. I want somebody with a little gusto, a little bit of energy, plays with a chip on their shoulder, looking to jaw off to the opposing offense. I like somebody who brings that killer mentality and brings that I’m going to win no matter what and I’m going to get in your head. I love that aspect about CJ Gardner Johnson. You also have to address the fact that he is a little bit of a headache for the rosters that he plays with, which is why we’ve seen him sort of turn into a journeyman. So for CJ Gardner Johnson, for what it’s worth, he played 65 of the snaps on defense. Um had a total of 70 snaps for the Houston Texans against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. played most of the defensive snaps available for Houston. So, he is available. He is healthy right now. And for what it’s worth, I think that this is a addition or an addition that maybe you kick the tires on, but maybe it doesn’t make a ton of sense considering you’re trying to reset and rebuild a culture. Now, for what it’s worth, I will let you guys know if there are any roster updates around the black and gold. Whether it’s CJ Gardner Johnson, whether they cut Hunter Deckers and sign him again, whether they make some crazy trade, we’re going to break it down here on Saints Now by chat sports, doesn’t matter if the players on IR, doesn’t matter if the player is a part of this team right here, right now because if he gets cut, it’s an update around the black and gold. So, we’re going to provide content for you. Be sure to hit the noty bell as well. Now, Alante Taylor is supposed to be that CJ Gardner Johnson role. I kind of talked about how I think it’s important to bring a little bit of an enforcer onto this defense. And I think that Alante Taylor in this Brandon Staley scheme is supposed to be that role. He’s supposed to have this star role where he’s going to be rushing the passer, going to be dropping back in coverage, going to be stopping the run, he’s going to be asked to do a little bit of everything. But when you look at the pro football focus grades comparing these two defensive backs, you can see that CJ Gardner Johnson has had a little bit more success kind of doing a little bit of everything as a defensive enforcer. The overall PFF grade favors CJ Gardner Johnson. The pass rush grade does favor Alante Taylor. I want to talk about that in a moment because pass rushing is what CJ Garner Johnson wants to do more of. But the run defense, CJ Gardner Johnson much better in that regard. In coverage, Elante Taylor actually grades out better. So, it is an interesting conversation to have because I do think that this is a type of player that the New Orleans Saints need and the best Saints defenses have had these kinds of players be very prevalent on the field. And in my opinion, Brandon Staley needs to find ways to improve this defensive squad. They have not been good. They grade at the bottom of the league in a lot of different statistical categories. Not quite 32, but you’re in the bottom 10, which isn’t something you necessarily uh want to be living in. You can see the opponent’s points per game. We’re giving up the 25th most, 15th most in yards per game, 16th most in yards per play. So, you’re kind of in the middle of the ground here. So, what I see here is you don’t give up as many yards as you know you would think, but you give up a ton of points because good field position because you give up a big punter because of penalties and all that kind of crazy stuff. But you can see right here, third down and in the red zone, the Saints defense is absolutely terrible. So, there is improvements to be made and there are fixes that need to happen. But for the New Orleans Saints, I do think that they are a team who would benefit from either getting more out of Alante Taylor or potentially finding somebody to be that role. Now, I want to talk more about what the New Orleans Saints defense needs here in just one moment. But first, got to tell you guys about my favorite sponsor, and I know y’all are about to get in the laugh. So, keep that shiny and go get yourself a tushy bedet. A-hole, balloon knot, fart box, stink wrinkle, leather cheerio, cornhole, mud button. They’re only dirty words if you wipe. TMI, but I use my Toshiba bedet multiple times a day, every single day. And it took no time to set up. It was absolutely easy. And it’s so easy that even a Falcons fan could do it. I’ve noticed massive improvements during my time on the porcelain throne. 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So, clean up that crappy situation and get 10% off your order with code chat at checkout when you head over to hellushy.com. Reminder, that’s 10% off your first Peday order at hellottoy.com with promo code chat. All that information is available in the comments and description. I want to take a look at the cornerback depth chart and the safety depth chart as well because obviously uh CJ Gardner Johnson is a very versatile player. He can line up in the box. He can line up out wide. He can line up in the slot. He can line up in the defensive line. He can line up as a free safety. Kind of does a little bit of everything. Over 900 snaps logged in the box as a free safety and as a slot. and then out wide 142 throughout his career, 271 down on the defensive line. So when you look at the players that are currently available as defensive backs, again I just go back to I believe there are upgrades to be had and it’s a fair question to say is he worth the headaches? And I can confidently tell you, I think that it may not be that because he is a player that has been known to cause some problems in the locker room, has been known to get a little too vocal, a little too loud and whatnot. And so I can tell you, I think if you were to rotate Alante Taylor and CJ Gardenner Johnson, for what it’s worth, that would be a filthy rotation. I would think that that would be absolutely lethal against opposing offensive coordinators. That being said, I don’t know if I’m willing to risk creating and developing the culture in my locker room to bring in one player who’s already not worked out. And remember, it’s kind of the reason the Saints traded him away. And it’s kind of the reason they didn’t get necessarily a great hall in return because they were like, “We’re just done with the headache. Just take them and we’re done with it.” And so, for what it’s worth, Aaron Wilson adding some context here. C.J. Garner Johnson after friction behind the scenes with him comp or complaining about the role he wants to blitz more. And for what it’s worth since leaving the New Orleans Saints, CJ Gardner Johnson has not been asked to rush the passer nearly as much as he was when he was with the black and gold. So if he wants to be that pass rusher, the New Orleans Saints, they did use him as a pass rusher. Again, different defensive coordinator, different defensive scheme and stuff. So, there is that to consider, but the New Orleans Saints did ask him to do that a lot. I do think for CJ Garner Johnson, the Eagles are probably the team that would bring him back. But I also can tell you right now that, you know, it feels like they don’t necessarily care about what’s going on uh off the field for some of those players. Aaron Wilson adding a little bit more. Among the issues the Texans experienced behind the scenes with CJ Gardner, Johnson per sources, he was critical of teammates in the secondary and didn’t like his role. It was a locker room issue and ultimately this just wasn’t a good fit for a team and a talented player. And this is exactly what happened last time he was in New Orleans. Got rid of him because he just wasn’t a good fit. He was complaining. He was drawn too much. He was talking too much. And you know, I’m somebody who was a massive, massive CJ Gardenner Johnson fan. That being said, you already let him go once. Would it make too much sense to bring him back? I mean, also considering the fact that he had some choice words about the Saints, about the fan base, about New Orleans, about the team, like there’s things to consider there. And and I do want to say this, like CJ Gardner Johnson is the focus of this discussion because I believe that the Saints need to get back to the attitude era. Do you remember the WWE when they were in the attitude era? I’m not sitting here saying that everything they did was perfect because clearly not. But there was a lot of fun things that happened in the attitude era. guys walked around with a little extra confidence, a little extra swagger, shoulders pressed up a little bit higher, chins higher. There was confidence oozing out of the New Orleans Saints defense when C.J. Gardner Johnson was a part of the squad. There was confidence oozing out of the attitude era from all the wrestlers you saw. So, I think that if the New Orleans Saints want to find the best defensive success, you got to bring that attitude. You got to bring the energy. You got to bring the swagger. You got to have an enforcer. somebody who’s going to hit somebody in the mouth just because they want to send a statement. And I’m not sitting here advocating to go and injure a player. I’m not advocating to go and try to get a bunch of extra penalties. That is not at all what I’m saying. But I do think that the New Orleans Saints need to start striking fear in their opponents. And it’s no mystery that the best defenses in black and gold history have been the defenses that played with the most swagger, with the most confidence, with the most gusto. They are walking on the field knowing there is no chance you’re going to do anything against us. And I think that that’s what the New Orleans Saints mindset needs to get back to. Now, rate the Saints defense through three weeks. Obviously, they haven’t been amazing. We looked at some of the stats. Hasn’t been good. I want to show you some of the passing stats here in a moment because goodness gracious, it is atrocious what the defensive backs have been doing because in my opinion, the defensive back play has been very, very underwhelming. By the way, scale at 1 to 100. One meaning very, very bad. the 100 meaning they’re perfect. I’m kind of leaning closer to like the 50 60 area. Really not that great in my opinion. The defensive back play has been underwhelming. Like there’s just no way around it. And of course you have injuries that have already settled in. Julian Blackman getting hurt really really sucks. And I was just telling Lopez before we started filming this video how excited I was to see him get on the field and how excited I was to see him play for the New Orleans Saints because he was doing good things. It was clearly chemistry there with Justin Reed. That being said, the quarterbacks haven’t been great either. Like Kool-Aid McKinstry, in my opinion, has kind of been underwhelming. Isaac Yadams have been terrible. Throw Quincy Riley into the mix. Alante Taylor definitely needs to be playing better. I mean, look at the Saints versus the Pass. Their defense has been atrocious. They are getting picked on um defensively. I mean, you can see the numbers right here. Top eight in opponent pass play percentage, number 27 in completion percentage. They are not breaking up a lot of passes. They are not for forcing turnovers whatsoever. zero interceptions thus far into the season. A couple force fumbles, but look, 7.6 yards per pass allowed, 210 yards per game allowed, sack percentage, it’s nice, top 10, but they could be so much higher. Think about all the times we’re seeing Brian Brazie get a hand on the quarterback. How many times have we seen Carl Granderson grab the quarterback and try to bring him down, and he slips away? I mean, it feels like it’s every single game you have multiple opportunities to get a sack and you don’t. And so with the sack percentage, of course that’s a nice number, but I’m going to sit here and say it could be higher. And guess what? If you have more sack production, then maybe this number right here, all of these could improve. But until then, you’re going to need better production from your defensive back. So let’s kind of just put a bow on this conversation because reminder, no interceptions, not a lot of swagger, not a lot of confidence on the Saints defense. But Chanty Gardner Johnson, CJ Gardner Johnson, excuse me. He’s been a player throughout his career, 18 interceptions. He has a grand total of 51 pass breakups. And he’s somebody that anywhere he goes is an enforcer. He’s somebody that is going to give you some headaches. And he is somebody who’s going to be a little bit of an attitude guy, but I do think that he could provide some juice to the defense. Again, I don’t think that the New Orleans Saints need to sell their souls and sell the farm and try to make something happen here to go and get CJ Gardner Johnson. And all in all, I don’t think it would make a ton of sense to bring him in because I’ve been advocating to develop the youth more instead of trying to bring in guys and patch up the nonsense. Let’s let’s really fix these things and really set a foundation to gain s to achieve sustained sustained success. I think CJ Gardner Johnson bringing him in would just be putting a band-aid on yet another issue that the Saints have in a, you know, grand scheme of problems. So, you know, all in all, I do think that the Saints need to be better when forcing turnovers. I think that they need to be better um against the pass, and that starts with getting interceptions. I mean, sure, pass breakups are important, but we got to take the ball away, man. So, I’m going to ask you, who’s going to be the first person to have an interception for the New Orleans Saints? Kool-Aid McKinstry. Could Quincy Riley come in in week four and just somehow manage to get a pick. That would be awesome. He’s already forced a fumble in very limited snaps. He’s a dog. Would love to see him get there. Justin Reed, Jonas Sanker, he had an interception in the preseason. I don’t know who it’s going to be, but I want to hear from you because I want you to try to convince me who it’s going to be. Appreciate you guys for rocking and rolling with us here on Saints Now by Chat Sports. Hope you guys have a wonderful afternoon, wonderful evening. No matter where you are, how you’re watching, we appreciate the Golden Gang for tuning in. So, be sure to hit the sub button, turn on your notifications. Y’all stay golden. We’ll see you next time. [Music]

New Orleans Saints roster rumors headline this edition of Saints Now by Chat Sports after the Houston Texans released safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson on Tuesday. The Saints could look to have a reunion with Gardner-Johnson as the Black and Gold selected Gardner-Johnson in the 4th round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Gardner-Johnson was acquired by the Houston Texans via trade with the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL offseason.

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The Saints secondary has struggled through the first three weeks of the 2025 NFL season, now the addition of Gardner-Johnson can help turn things around. Saints Now host Trizzy Trace Girouard is here to breakdown all the latest rumors surrounding a Saints and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson reunion as well as give his take on if the Black and Gold should bring back C.J. Gardner-Johnson.

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Saints vs. the pass in 2025:
– Opp Pass Play %: 53.01% (#8)
– Opp Completion %: 70.79% (#27)
– Opp Yards/Pass: 7.6 (#23)
– Opp Pass Yards/Game: 210.0 (#17)
– Sack %: 8.25% (#9)

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Saints defense in 2025:
– Opp Points/Game: 30.0 (#25)
– Opp Yards/Game: 313.3 (#15)
– Opp Yards/Play: 5.1 (#16)
– Opp 3D Conv %: 45.95% (#27)
– Opp RZ Scoring % (TD): 80.00% (#29)

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New Orleans Saints Free Agency Tracker:
– Isaac Yiadom, CB
– Juwan Johnson, TE
– Justin Reid, S
– Chase Young, EDGE
– Will Clapp, C
– Jonah Williams, EDGE
– Velus Jones, WR
– Dante Pettis, WR
– Jack Stoll, TE

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– Time To TANK In New Orleans + SIGN Younghoe Koo? Saints Overreaction Monday After NFL Week 3 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3BIOkNfPsM

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