6 Eagles Unlikely to Return in 2025 After Poor Start to Season

2. CJ Gardner-Johnson, safety

The Philadelphia Eagles figured they probably made a little bit of a mistake letting go of CJ Gardner Johnson in 2023 after his outstanding 2022 campaign with them in which he picked off six passes and did so in just 12 total games.

He didn't play much with the Detroit Lions last season due to injury but the Eagles still felt like he was the same type of player they let go of because they gave him a three-year deal worth $33 million in total money. That was a pretty risky deal in the first place due to the fact that he played just three games last season for the Lions.

But the Eagles didn't view it as a "sight-unseen" kind of deal because they had Gardner-Johnson in the building in 2022 and he helped them have one of the best defensive seasons they've had in the last decade.

He's never allowed more than three touchdowns in a single season, so maybe banking on Gardner-Johnson wasn't the riskiest move on paper to begin with. But he's proven to be a bit of a liability there for the Eagles in 2024. He's already been credited with allowing four touchdowns this season and is giving up a whopping 22 yards per completion with a 145.0 quarterback rating when the ball is thrown into his coverage.

Needless to say, teams are targeting Gardner-Johnson and having success. It would cost the Eagles a bit to get out of his contract after this season, but it's not impossible, and the Eagles can't afford that kind of negative play on the back end of their defense.