Bears’ C.J. Gardner-Johnson creates stronger market for his services

Bears’ C.J. Gardner-Johnson creates stronger market for his services

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<!–qv q:id=6r q:key=vcaa:Second-guessing Bear GM Ryan Poles is a hobby of most Bears fans on social media, but they're strangely silent on one developing situation.

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Second-guessing Bear GM Ryan Poles is a hobby of most Bears fans on social media, but they’re strangely silent on one developing situation.

<!–qv q:id=6u q:key=vcaa:Poles gave out a contract extension at $13 million a year for slot cornerback Kyler Gordon heading into this season and it was widely applauded.

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Poles gave out a contract extension at $13 million a year for slot cornerback Kyler Gordon heading into this season and it was widely applauded.

<!–qv q:id=6x q:key=vcaa:Then came injuries, which Poles obviously had nothing to do with, but then came C.J. Gardner-Johnson playing Gordon's position even more effectively.

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Then came injuries, which Poles obviously had nothing to do with, but then came C.J. Gardner-Johnson playing Gordon’s position even more effectively.

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Gardner Johnson's statistics and analytics say Poles got a real bargain with someone who not only knew how to play in coordinator Dennis Allen's system, but has exceeded all expectations regardless of how he's been deployed.

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Gardner Johnson’s statistics and analytics say Poles got a real bargain with someone who not only knew how to play in coordinator Dennis Allen’s system, but has exceeded all expectations regardless of how he’s been deployed.

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The Bears not only are unbeaten with Gardner-Johnson playing (5-0) but  his production has been dramatically better than what they've had from Gordon this year, and even the past in many ways.

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The Bears not only are unbeaten with Gardner-Johnson playing (5-0) but  his production has been dramatically better than what they’ve had from Gordon this year, and even the past in many ways.

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An 86.8 passer rating against, only 9 of 15 completions allowed (60%), three sacks in 22 blitzes, and a ridiculously low 2.9 yards allowed per target indicate Gardner-Johnson needs to be retained. He gave up only 44 yards on the nine receptions allowed, and of the 44 yards allowed only 21 came before the catch.

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An 86.8 passer rating against, only 9 of 15 completions allowed (60%), three sacks in 22 blitzes, and a ridiculously low 2.9 yards allowed per target indicate Gardner-Johnson needs to be retained. He gave up only 44 yards on the nine receptions allowed, and of the 44 yards allowed only 21 came before the catch.

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It all suggests a lockdown-type of slot player. Those are statistics per Stathead/Pro Football Reference. Pro Football Focus has been nowhere near as generous with grades for him—which makes you wonder if they even had the right player or game film.

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It all suggests a lockdown-type of slot player. Those are statistics per Stathead/Pro Football Reference. Pro Football Focus has been nowhere near as generous with grades for him—which makes you wonder if they even had the right player or game film.

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The eye test alone says Gardner-Johnson is playing far better than the 97.9 passer rating against PFF gave him. Even with that, none of the PFF passer ratings against game by game have been higher than 87.5 since his first game, the wild high-scoring pass-a-thon with Cincinnati. That one came in the week Gardner-Johnson joined the team.

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The eye test alone says Gardner-Johnson is playing far better than the 97.9 passer rating against PFF gave him. Even with that, none of the PFF passer ratings against game by game have been higher than 87.5 since his first game, the wild high-scoring pass-a-thon with Cincinnati. That one came in the week Gardner-Johnson joined the team.

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Almost all of his plays have come being deployed in the slot or the box, 257 in the slot or box.

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Almost all of his plays have come being deployed in the slot or the box, 257 in the slot or box.

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Gordon's injuries dating back to even training camp have held him back, and sidelined him for all but three games this year.

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Gordon’s injuries dating back to even training camp have held him back, and sidelined him for all but three games this year.

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Regardless, Gordon never has played more than 15 games in a season. He missed three as a rookie, four in 2023, two last year and nine so far this season.

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Regardless, Gordon never has played more than 15 games in a season. He missed three as a rookie, four in 2023, two last year and nine so far this season.

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He had one season under 100 in terms of passer rating against and hasn't had an interception since 2023. He has 2 1/2 sacks for his career, or half a sack less than Gardner-Johnson in his first two Bears games.

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He had one season under 100 in terms of passer rating against and hasn’t had an interception since 2023. He has 2 1/2 sacks for his career, or half a sack less than Gardner-Johnson in his first two Bears games.

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Hindsight is 20-20 with the spending for Gordon in this case, because they gave so much money for him and then along came a player off the street who has allowed 6.0 yards less per target while making a huge impact.

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Hindsight is 20-20 with the spending for Gordon in this case, because they gave so much money for him and then along came a player off the street who has allowed 6.0 yards less per target while making a huge impact.

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For now the Bears are fortunate to have both back healthy, but at the end of the season they have to take a really good look at what they've accomplished defensively with Gardner-Johnson, who turns 28 later this month.

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For now the Bears are fortunate to have both back healthy, but at the end of the season they have to take a really good look at what they’ve accomplished defensively with Gardner-Johnson, who turns 28 later this month.

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Gardner-Johnson has been a safety in the past. It could be a situation where they try to sign him and use him at that position, considering none of their safeties are under contract for next year. Or maybe they could switch Gordon to safety.  Allen talked about Gordon’s ability to do just that during the offseason.

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Gardner-Johnson has been a safety in the past. It could be a situation where they try to sign him and use him at that position, considering none of their safeties are under contract for next year. Or maybe they could switch Gordon to safety.  Allen talked about Gordon’s ability to do just that during the offseason.

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"Some of the things that I see him do and the way that he fits in the run game tells me that he could be a fit with safety also," Allen said about Gordon in the offseason. "We've had guys that have had the flexibility to play a lot of different positions.

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“Some of the things that I see him do and the way that he fits in the run game tells me that he could be a fit with safety also,” Allen said about Gordon in the offseason. “We’ve had guys that have had the flexibility to play a lot of different positions.

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"I think that's important in today's football where you're not just locked into one thing."

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“I think that’s important in today’s football where you’re not just locked into one thing.”

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Gardner-Johnson's history for staying healthy isn't a lot better than Gordon's. It's a hazard of playing the slot, where you’re basically a combo DB-linebacker and too small to be playing so close to the line of scrimmage against linemen and tight ends some of the time.

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Gardner-Johnson’s history for staying healthy isn’t a lot better than Gordon’s. It’s a hazard of playing the slot, where you’re basically a combo DB-linebacker and too small to be playing so close to the line of scrimmage against linemen and tight ends some of the time.

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Keeping Gardner-Johnson is going to mean finding money under the salary cap that they currently won't have because Overthecap.com has them with $1.24 million for 2026, and $12.4 million over the cap in terms of actual effective cap space.

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Keeping Gardner-Johnson is going to mean finding money under the salary cap that they currently won’t have because Overthecap.com has them with $1.24 million for 2026, and $12.4 million over the cap in terms of actual effective cap space.

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From the way Gardner-Johnson has played, he's not going to be a cheap addition for the future and so far he's proving he can fit into the right situation after a tumultuous career in terms of team relations.

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From the way Gardner-Johnson has played, he’s not going to be a cheap addition for the future and so far he’s proving he can fit into the right situation after a tumultuous career in terms of team relations.

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Considering the safety contract situation, Gardner-Johnson's availability, and the Bears' cap plight, it's going to be fascinating to see who comes running when Poles rings the dinner bell so to speak, or who has steep contract demands.

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Considering the safety contract situation, Gardner-Johnson’s availability, and the Bears’ cap plight, it’s going to be fascinating to see who comes running when Poles rings the dinner bell so to speak, or who has steep contract demands.

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