Eagles accused of fake offer by C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s representing agency
We knew, heading into the weekend, that there was a chance that C.J. Gardner-Johnson would be a member of the Philadelphia Eagles for the 2023-2024 NFL season. We also knew there was a chance he’d leave. We were under the impression that the “disrespect” C.J. had referred to on Twitter probably came from one of two things: he may not have gotten the offer he wanted from Philly and he probably found out the market he found wasn’t offering what he thought he deserved. It appears we were right.
First things first. Congratulations to C.J. for his one-year deal with the Detroit Lions. He deserves it, and we appreciate him for a fantastic year in the midnight green. He’s going to be hard to replace, but following Sunday’s news, it appears that his exit from the Eagles organization is attached to some fallout.
It appears that the agency that he hired to represent him isn’t happy with how their client was treated. That happens from time to time, but we rarely see that handled in the manner that it was on this occasion.
Universal Sports Management accuses the Eagles of offering C.J. Gardner-Johnson a “fake” three-year extension.
Yeah, these are the types of statements that we feel like we should scroll past, but when they are tweeted by a sports firm’s official handle, it’s hard to do that. Universal Sports Management seemingly has some issues with the handling of the recent Gardner-Johnson negotiation. They decided to take those frustrations out on Twitter.
We thought they may have deleted their tweet by now. They haven’t (though they still might). Here’s what they had to say. You’re more than welcome to make your own mind up about whether or not their approach was the right one.
"Perception Vs Reality….1 Year Real vs 3 Year Fake….which sounds better to you 1. One-year deal = $8m 2. 3 yr deal = $24m max with 17m+ in yr 3 Which one you taking? (Mic emoji) drop"
Two things stand out here. The first is this is probably a reaction to the reports that Philly tried to offer C.J. a multi-year extension, but for an organization that may have to do business with the Eagles at some point, in layman’s terms, this is a bad look.
Secondly, this is less than professional. Regardless of how things ended, it’s important to note that C.J. took the high road… as we’d expect, but there’s been a ton of reaction to his agency’s tweet.
Thank you Philly organization, definitely was a hell of a ride!!! 🙏🏾
— C.J. Gardner-Johnson (@CGJXXIII) March 20, 2023
I'm astonished at a few things here; if this is my agenCY, they're fire at the time of this post! Next, the ignorance of some responses, $3.5mil per yr 1&2, $17mil in yr 3, yea take the $8 mil hit the market next yr! Lastly, the Birds will miss his play-making & swagger! IMO!!
— Seth Joyner (@sethjoyner) March 20, 2023
C.J. will do well in Detroit. We’ll be cheering for him (unless the Lions and Eagles cross paths on the football field or Philly needs Detroit to lose because we’re discussing playoff positioning, but going forward, it’s probably going to be necessary for him to find other representation.
He obviously didn’t enjoy the negotiating process, and by the looks of things, his deal and his agency’s fallout leave much to be desired.
