SEPTEMBER 25: Though Gardner-Johnson requested a trade, the Texans made no attempt to move him, according to Ryans (via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio). Ryan’s comments indicate that the team wanted to get Gardner-Johnson out of Houston as soon as possible, aligning with the report about the tension he created in the locker room.
SEPTEMBER 24: 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.
He and Philly are a perfect match for each other. Same thing goes for Sirianni.
At least Philly didn’t lose to the Browns lol
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.
Sure, I agree. It’s also what many teams do when they’re desperate. They have a need there too, all other jokes or truthful observations aside. They’ll hope that the improvement is impactful.
There is a rule that prohibits them from signing him this season.
Are they prohibited for the entire season? I know that there is a rule that prevents him from returning there for a decent time period but I didn’t think it was a full season.
If a player that was signed by another team doesn’t play 4 games he can’t be resigned that season by his old team. The Eagles could trade for Fred Johnson but couldn’t have claimed him off waivers.
He makes a lot of interceptions but he also gets burned for a lot of TD’s.
Philly announced they were releasing him if they could not find a trade partner.
They have ZERO interest in a player who does what he wants and does not follow his assignment. Looks Flashy for the Fans when he makes a big play doing that…..but all the TDs and Big plays the D gives up because he was out of position are not clear to the fans but is clear to the coaches. This is why team after team wants him gone.
When the Texans D kept giving up TDs because there was no coverage over the Middle where CJGJ was supposed to but went outside….The Texans got really tired of CJGJ blaming the Outside Corner for not taking the Middle when CJGJ went outside instead of manning assigned spot.
And the INTs he gets by ripping the ball out of another defenders hands sure looks good on the stat sheet….but all the INTs not recorded by the D because of the ball that gets dropped because he rips it out of another defenders hands because HE wanted the INT don’t show up….but kills the D.
He has sufficient skills to play defense in the NFL…He just chooses to not give a darn about anything but himself.
Philly doesn’t even want him back. They’re “happy with the current players”. Translation = Nope.
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
Each of the 1st 3 Games the Texans gave up big plays over the middle.
The D-Coordinator has assigned CJGJ to that spot, but that spot was empty.
The D-Coordinator blamed CJGJ.
CJGJ said the Outside CB should have seen CJGJ going outside and should have come over to take his spot.
In short….CJGJ repeated told the Texas D-Cooridator…He was going to do whatever he wanted and the other players better adjust on the fly to cover the assignments he does not want to do.
He did the Same thing in Philly…which is why they said they were cutting him if they could not trade him.
Team after Team can’t believe he is that much of a block head…so he gets new changes on new teams with new def co-ordinators who think they can change him…..They can’t.
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.
Deshon Elliott returning would solve a whooooole lot of back end issues, and there’s a chance that he could be back this week. Elliott so far has been the best Steelers veteran free agent addition since… James Farrior, maybe?
That would be great, immensely, but I do worry about the lack of speed/quickness as a whole. It’s hard to evaluate because when you look at individual players, they each have made good plays in certain situations, but the defense as a whole has also had some really bad stretches (particularly against the run, and not just outside). It’s hard to pick out one player who’s costing them, because one play the lineman will get blown off the ball, and the next you have four guys crashing the pocket. I’m no defensive consultant, though, and that’s probably why I’m still evaluating. And also poor.
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?
I doubt it’s the Bears. Ben Johnson saw his antics in Detroit and is attempting to build that franchise with culture in mind just like in Detroit.
No employer wants a pain in the ass employee no matter how good they are at the job.
Does that include Jerry Jones who presently has a major crisis in his Cowboy secondary?
He keeps wearing out his welcomes quickly. He may not get another job.
I mean Bills are in win now mode. He’s cost effective. And the BILLS DO NEED SAFETY HELP BAD! Skill and team are a match but can the team mentality keep him in check? Idk
This dude can’t get out of his own way.
The hidden story behind this release is the Texans’ shocking collapse. Last in the league in scoring, allowed the winning TD to Tampa Bay in the final seconds, gave up the winning TD in Jax then threw a deep-ball INT that clinched the result.
Losing Mixon and Dell to injury was huge for the offense.
Chiefs
Rams
Wore out his welcome quicker than I thought
I’m guessing Gardner-Johnson has the “You need people like me” speech from the movie Scarface memorized 🙂