C.J.

Gardner-Johnson

Gardner-Johnson will reunite with Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, who coached him in New Orleans from 2019 to 2021. The mercurial cornerback will join a Chicago defense that has allowed the NFL’s fourth highest drop back success rate and the second highest completion rate over expected this season. Look for Gardner-Johnson, who has 18 interceptions over 77 NFL games, to primarily play slot corner in Chicago.

The 27-year-old safety asked for his release after the Ravens traded for Alohi Gilman.

The Texans released Gardner-Johnson after Week 3 and much came out about him freelancing, blowing assignments, and complaining about his role. The Ravens defense is at a juncture where they’d probably take that if it came with some competent NFL-level play, too.

What was your favorite moment of the Gardner-Johnson era in Houston? He did play 96 percent of the snaps for the Texans in three weeks, so it’s a loss. NBC’s Aaron Wilson reports there was “friction behind the scenes” behind the release, with Gardner-Johnson “complaining about his role, wanting to blitz more, per league sources, and even communicating that he wanted to be traded.” M.J. Stewart will take over at safety for the Texans.

According to KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson, the Texans are converting $7.75 million of Gardner-Johnson’s base salary into a $6.58 million signing bonus that will free up just over $3.086 million in cap space. Gardner-Johnson is in the second year of a three-year deal he originally signed with the Eagles in 2024, but can be released with no dead cap hit if the team opts to move on from him at the end of this season.

Gardner-Johnson went down in early August with a knee injury that was expected to threaten his season, but Gardner-Johnson has been able to rehab it successfully and it thankfully was not as bad as it initially looked. Gardner-Johnson should have a decent role in Houston this year, though Jalen Pitre is probably the IDP Texans back-seven player you want to roster.

Per Schefter, “Gardner-Johnson’s knee injury isn’t as serious as it could have been.” This is astonishingly good news. Local and national reporters initially said that this was a season-ending ACL tear but Gardner-Johnson appears to be largely okay. He is expected to play a pivotal role in the Texans’ secondary whenever he retakes the field.

It was announced yesterday that Gardner-Johnson’s ACL was intact after the veteran safety was carted from Thursday’s practice. Now the question becomes how quickly Gardner-Johnson could return to action. The 27-year-old safety totaled 59 tackles and six interceptions for the Eagles last season and is expected to be a core contributor to the Texans’ defense this season. Safety Jimmie Ward, who is dealing with a foot injury of his own, would be first in line to replace Gardner-Johnson if he’s healthy, but the Texans are looking particularly thin at safety with a month to go before the start of the season.

We now have two reporters with contradictory reports. NBC Sports Houston’s Aaron Wilson’s sources indicated that Gardner-Johnson did indeed tear his ACL and is out for the year. Jordan Schultz’s sources indicated the same. Per Rapoport, Gardner-Johnson is set to undergo further testing and more information is incoming. Stay tuned.

What an unfortunate development. The Texans acquired Gardner-Johnson via trade this offseason. He was expected to be a key cog in Houston’s top-tier defense. On the plus side, Gardner-Johnson has a full year to recover before the 2026 season.