A former Super Bowl champion was released ahead of Week 4 in a move that came as somewhat of a surprise.
Veteran defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson was cut by the Houston Texans on Tuesday, according to multiple reports.
The Texans acquired Gardner-Johnson in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles during the offseason. Gardner-Johnson had signed a 3-year, $27 million deal with the Eagles prior to 2024 and then won a Super Bowl with the team. He started 16 games for Philadelphia and tied a career high with 6 interceptions. Gardner-Johnson also played a significant role in the playoffs with 14 total tackles across four postseason games, including 6 in a tight Divisional Round win over the Los Angeles Rams.
As ESPN’s Field Yates notes, the Texans seemed committed to Gardner-Johnson as of three weeks ago when they converted more than $6 million of the 27-year-old’s salary into a signing bonus.
Just 3 weeks ago, the Texans converted $6.58M of CJ Gardner-Johnson's salary into a signing bonus. They clearly had legitimate plans for the player in their secondary.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 23, 2025
Things changed in a hurry… https://t.co/AbTBSlnCxs
The decision to release Gardner-Johnson comes a day after Texas safety Jimmie Ward was removed from the NFL’s Commissioner’s Exempt List. Ward was arrested multiple times during the offseason, but a grand jury in Texas declined to indict him last week.
Gardner-Johnson started all three games for the Texans this season and had 15 total tackles. He got into it with Baker Mayfield during Houston’s Week 2 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and later took a shot at the quarterback via social media.
