Bills Cutting S C.J. Gardner-Johnson

He had just returned from a one-game suspension for spitting on an opponent. Veteran S Damar Hamlin replaced him and the Bills sounded impressed by his performance after this past week. 

It’s the latest short stay with a team for the volatile Gardner-Johnson who tends to wear out his welcome — sometimes more quickly with certain teams. 

Gardner-Johnson, 28, is a former fourth-round pick of the Saints from Florida back in 2019. He was entering the final year of his four-year rookie contract and was set to make a base salary of $2.54 million when the Saints traded him to the Eagles during the preseason. 

Gardner-Johnson was testing the open market as an unrestricted free agent for the first time and signed a one-year, $8 million deal with the Lions. He was placed on injured reserve after just two games with Detroit.

He returned to the Eagles on a three-year, $27 million deal last March but was traded to Houston for G Kenyon Green. The Texans then released him after just a few games. 

From there, he signed with the Ravens’ practice squad but was released at his request just a week later.

He then signed a one-year contract with the Bears and played the rest of the season for them before agreeing to a one-year deal with the Bills at the start of the offseason.

In 2026, Gardner-Johnson appeared in six games for the Bills and recorded 26 total tackles, one interception and two passes defended.