C.J. Gardner-Johnson‘s time in Houston has proven to be short-lived. The veteran safety is being released, as first reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. 
2025 has seen Gardner-Johnson serve as a starter for Houston, his fourth career team. The former Saint, Lion and Eagle (on two occasions) enjoyed a highly productive second Philadelphia stint last year. To his surprise, the 27-year-old was traded this offseason in a swap which saw former first-round guard Kenyon Green head the other way.
That move appeared to give Houston another veteran presence in the secondary and add further to a defense which faced high expectations entering 2025. That unit has fared well with an average of just 17 points allowed per game, but the Texans are moving on nonetheless. Jalen Mills was recently brought back into the fold as a depth option at safety, while Jimmie Ward was removed from the commissioner’s exempt list yesterday. In the wake of those developments, Gardner-Johnson is being let go.
Friction with teammates was an issue in this case, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 reports. Gardner-Johnson criticized other members of the Houston secondary and was unhappy with his role in the team’s scheme, per Wilson. Without even one month in the books, the decision has been made on the team’s part to move on rather than attempting to salvage the situation. Wilson adds a trade request was issued prior to today’s cut.
Team and player recently agreed to a restructure, with Gardner-Johnson’s base salary for 2025 being reduced to the veteran minimum in exchange for a conversion to a signing bonus. That spread out guaranteed cap charges over several years, an indication this relationship would continue through at least the remainder of the campaign. Instead, Houston will take on a $5.66MM dead money charge for 2025 as a result of this move.
Mills and (when he is healthy) Ward represent options to take on a starting role at the safety spot. Ward has been a key figure when available during his Texans tenure, but an NFL investigation stemming from domestic violence allegations is ongoing and he is currently on the reserve/PUP list while recovering from offseason ankle surgery. In any case, Calen Bullock is set to remain in place as a safety starter moving forward. M.J. Stewart is currently in line to join him as a first-team presence.
Gardner-Johnson is now set to hit free agency. With two six-interception seasons and four campaigns of at least eight pass deflections to his name, the former fourth-rounder is not lacking in production. Today’s move marks the latest example of a team preferring not to keep him in the fold in spite of that, however. As such, it will be interesting to see if a strong market develops over the near future.
Definitely related to his abrasive personality. Dude can play but not shut up.
Straight back to Philly
Not going to happen. Why release a player who obvious personality faults just to bring him back? The Eagles safety position is fine for now. They don’t need him.
lol
There will be a team willing to take a chance on Johnson’s antics for some production. A lot of teams would be in the market, because he’s not going to be offered much. I don’t think Philly would do it, since they’ve mostly looked good so far and they shipped Johnson out purposefully just last year with the same defense in place. Miami comes to mind need-wise, as does Johnson’s old team in New Orleans, but given that this will be a lower end deal in all likelihood, he could really go almost anywhere.
Miami is seconds from a train wreck and a cultural wasteland…I’m sure they’ll explore bringing him in.
I wonder what he said and to whom.
“Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip” / Winston Churchill
Not at all surprising with Houston off to an 0-3 start. I’m sure he went on a tirade.
Come to Chicago we need help secondary
Steelers maybe?
I’d say no for 2 reasons: they don’t want his personality in the locker room, and Jabril Peppers looked really good this past week in his first extended action.
They still need some athleticism on the back end. I’m not sure that the attitude would be helpful, though.
Pittsburgh needs a second receiver more than Law and Order SVU needs an explanation of the 4th Amendment, though, so I think I’d really like to see them be aggressive there. The other thing is the run defense-it’s hard because the front seven get pressure on passing downs, and the linemen look like they can push the pocket, but they get gashed on running plays. The run defense and complete and utterly total inability of their receivers to get separation have been glaringly bad so far this year. The back end has lacked speed in the pass, but the experience between Slay, Ramsay, and Clark has mitigated some of that sloth.
And Green was just released too LOL
He’s…yeah, not what was hoped for.
I’m not surprised. After watching him explain his issues with Darius Slay on the Ryan Clarke podcast, before the the start of this season, it’s clear he doesn’t know how to get along with teammates. And it’s clear he takes no responsibility in why they don’t get along with him.
Very interesting I usually have landing spots for players but I’m drawing a blank who could scoop him up. Patriots? Dolphins? Bears?