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The New Orleans Saints only reported one roster move on Friday’s daily update to the NFL transactions wire, but it’s a big one: the return of defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson from reserve/COVID-19.
Gardner-Johnson was designated to the reserve list before Week 17’s game with the Carolina Panthers, forcing the Saints to reshuffle their secondary for the regular season finale. One of those changes was the debut of practice squad cornerback Grant Haley, who bagged his first career interception in the game.
But getting Gardner-Johnson back now is critical. The second-year safety out of Florida has played more snaps from the slot than any other New Orleans defender, dealing out most of his damage in run defense. His ability to reliably make tackles in the open field allows the Saints to play a nickel defense as their base, giving them more defensive backs to drop back into coverage. With him in the fold, they can get more creative in the Wild-Card Round against Mitchell Trubisky and the Chicago Bears.
And the edge Gardner-Johnson adds to the secondary can’t be understated. He’s as mouthy as they come in the NFL, and has quickly built a reputation as one of the league’s best chirpers between plays. Just look at Week 8’s game with this same Bears team, when he egged on Chicago wideout Javon Wims until he sucker punched Gardner-Johnson and got himself ejected.
But we’ll be expecting more highlight reel-worthy moments from Gardner-Johnson during plays, not outside of them, when the two squads kick off on Sunday. He’s a big building-block for the Saints secondary and part of the youth movement poised to take over for their legendary 2017 draft class. Getting him more postseason experience is critical.
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