For the second consecutive offseason, the Detroit Lions will have to give their secondary a lot of work. More than anything else, they’ll need to put on muscle at cornerback, but they also need to make sure they practise retention. especially with C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s safety.
While some Lions supporters find Gardner-Johnson somewhat mysterious and others find his boldness annoying, the truth is that he emerged as a leader in the locker room this season and his confidence had a positive impact on the Lions defence. It provided them the necessary swagger.
He did not only contribute that. He was pretty terrific out there when he was playing and healthy. In the six games that the Lions were able to get Gardner-Johnson, he played some of his greatest football of his career. Along with that, he continued to peddle balls, with two picks in those six games. While it wasn’t as many as he had in 2022, two in six games is still a respectable total.
There’s some worry that he might be playing for himself and that his bluster could lead to some unfortunate incidents. After Deebo Samuel’s needless personal foul in the NFC Championship game, one may assume that. That isn’t how I view things. Saying a player is playing for himself is difficult.
Alright, so the table is set. How much would it take to maintain Gardner-Johnson? After crunching all the figures, our in-house cap experts at A to Z Sports anticipate that Gardner-Johnson will sign a two-year, $17 million contract for $8.5 million in guaranteed earnings and $8.5 million on average annually.
For Gardner-Johnson, that’s a good deal. It offers Gardner-Johnson an opportunity to play at a high level and then have a chance to either obtain an extension that can lead to large money or sign a big deal. It also gets him a raise to stay in Detroit after he signed a one-year deal for $6.5 million in 2022.
