Another short-lived stint on a new team for C.J Gardner-Johnson, as the Buffalo Bills have released the mercurial safety following his one-game suspension for spitting toward Raiders tight end Brock Bowers.
Gardner-Johnson was signed by the team in March to a one-year, $3.5 million deal.
And now he’s no longer a member of Bills.
Jordan Schultz was first on the report of Gardner-Johnson’s release:
After his first three NFL seasons on the Saints, the team that drafted him, since the beginning of the 2022 campaign, Gardner-Johnson has been on the Eagles, Lions, Eagles, Texans, Bears, and Bills, and has yet to stay with any of those teams for consecutive seasons.
Beyond his on-field antics, Gardner-Johnson, who’ll turn 29 in December, had seriously problems tackling while in Buffalo. In fact, entering Week 9, his 25.7% missed tackle rate was the highest in the NFL among qualifying safeties.
In six games for the Bills, the former University of Florida star had 26 tackles, two pass breakups, and one interception.
This news isn’t overly surprising, and not just because of the suspension.
Buffalo has gotten quality production from Damar Hamlin next to Cole Bishop this season — 23 tackles, one pass breakup, and a 4.2% missed tackle rate. Beyond him, they just saw veteran Geno Stone make a big impact in his short audition against the Ravens in Week 8, as he led the team with six tackles on just 19 snaps, and there are two large, explosive youngsters waiting in the wings, Jalon Kilgore and Jordan Hancock, the latter of whom presumably will be activated from IR relatively soon.
Also, the trade deadline is a week from today on November 10, and there’s been plenty of speculation about the Bills adding veteran safety to pair with Bishop.
Much like for his past teams, Buffalo’s Gardner-Johnson experiment did not work out.
