C.J. Gardner-Johnson was supposed to stick around, but the Philadelphia Eagles couldn't wait around. 

That's the story, at least the one Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman is willing to tell and stick to. 

“I think when you go back to the start of free agency, we talked to his representatives about bringing him back here and also talked to them about the fact that we had limited resources,” Roseman said to Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia. “It’s no secret that sometime relatively soon we want to extend our quarterback. Our whole kind of roster building is going to turn a little bit here from a quarterback on a rookie deal towards hopefully a quarterback on a long-term deal. Not that we have anything done or anything but that’s obviously our goal, is to keep Jalen (Hurts) here for a long time. And so you run out of resources.

“We were very clear that at some point we were going to have to go in a different direction. In those first couple days, we tried and then we pivoted. I think that’s one of the most important things in free agency. You can go in with a plan but you have to be able to pivot and have other options and not get stuck with nothing. I think at that point, that’s where we went. When we pivoted that was kind of where it went.”

The Eagles apparently offered Gardner-Johnson a deal early in the free agency period, according to NBC Sports. And then, Philadelphia waited. 

And waited. 

When no answer came, the Eagles opted to sign James Bradberry on a three-year deal and keep Darius Slay on a three-year deal.

Now, Gardner-Johnson accepted a deal with the Detroit Lions for $6.5 million. The level of the contract indicates that Gardner-Johnson misstepped his bet on himself in free agency. 

Roseman was asked about the Garnder-Johnson deal on Monday, to which he said both sides are ready to move on. 

“I think we talked so much, I’m trying to think… He may say yes,” Roseman said. “I don’t remember specifically if he said, ‘Hey I have this.’ I think at that point in time, he was ready to move on.”

In the end, it appears that the Eagles may have lucked out.