Remember when Buffalo Bills safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson received a one-game suspension for spitting on an opponent in the Raiders game? Bills coach Joe Brady said the team would address the situation, and he indicated that Buffalo did not plan on releasing him. Well, it turns out that it did.

NFL insider Jordan Schultz broke the news of the release.

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Bills are releasing safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson

“The Bills are releasing safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. Gardner-Johnson, who has started 6 games for Buffalo, did not play Sunday due to a one-game suspension for a spitting incident in the Raiders game.”

You could see this one coming from a mile away. Let’s be honest about where things stand: regardless of the spitting incident, Gardner-Johnson is not a high-caliber starter at this point in his career. The Bills were getting a veteran body in the secondary, not a difference-maker.

This was not the first time CJGJ let his mouth or his emotions get the better of him in 2026.

Chauncey Gardner-Johnson’s history caught up with him

Think back to earlier in the year, when Gardner-Johnson called out Efton Chism. He labeled Chism a practice squad player who made a once-in-a-lifetime play. In reality, Chism was never on a practice squad. Gardner-Johnson, meanwhile, has been on multiple.

So the proof was in the pudding long before the spitting incident. Brady made it clear after the suspension that Gardner-Johnson’s lack of discipline “definitely has to be addressed.” I just don’t think many people expected the answer to be a release.

A player who keeps putting himself in the headlines for the wrong reasons eventually runs out of rope, and Buffalo decided it was done waiting for a change.

Why the Bills made the right move

Buffalo is arguably one of the best teams in the AFC, and really in the entire NFL. You never want to lose a starter in the middle of a contending season, especially at a position where you are already thin.

The secondary has been a problem for the Bills, and it will continue to be a problem with another starter out the door. Gardner-Johnson started six games, and somebody will have to absorb those snaps sooner rather than later.

But at some point, a contender has to clear the distractions out of the locker room. You cannot have players who make the same undisciplined errors time and time again. Wearing your emotions on your sleeve can be part of what makes a defensive back effective, but in Gardner-Johnson’s case, it crossed the line one too many times.

Championship teams rely on players who can keep their composure when the stakes rise in January. Gardner-Johnson has given Buffalo plenty of reasons to doubt he can be that guy, and a spitting suspension in the middle of the season was the final straw.

In my opinion, the Bills were right to make this move. It may create a short-term headache in the secondary, but it sends a clear message to the rest of the roster about what this team will and will not tolerate. Buffalo now has to find a replacement, and how it fills that hole will say a lot about how far this team can go.