Texans end experiment with C.J. Gardner-Johnson after his recent actions made a tough decision crystal clear for Houston
Houston is moving on from him now.
Early season moves around the NFL can sometimes be surprising. For the Houston Texans, their latest roster decision shocked a lot of people when it came about on social media.
Houston is giving up on a recent move sooner rather than later, but they simply had no choice after the situation with C.J. Gardner-Johnson continued to deteriorate.
Texans surprisingly release safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson
According to reports, the Texans are moving on from veteran defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson. He is being released.
“Among the issues that arose with Gardner-Johnson, per sources: criticism of teammates in the secondary, including the size of one player’s contract, complaints about his role, including a desire to blitz more frequently, and a trade request. It was simply too much for the Texans to tolerate, especially during a winless start to the season after hoping to take the next step and advance further in the postseason.” — Aaron Wilson
Gardner-Johnson joined Houston in an offseason trade. While it wasn’t a costly move, this is certainly not the outcome they hoped for when they made that move. He was a starter so far this season and played 65 of 70 snaps last weekend for the Texans defense. Alas, he’s out now.
M.J. Stewart is expected to garner a bigger role in the secondary, and Jimmie Ward was also just reinstated from the league’s exempt list. Houston clearly felt like Gardner-Johnson was expendable by this point, and Demeco Ryans has always valued the team aspect of his squad. If Gardner-Johnson wasn’t pulling in the same direction as his fellow defenders, this move shouldn’t surprise people quite as much.
We could also see Houston take a look around the defensive back market in free agency. There are some available, experienced options, but none of them will heavily impact the team in the short-term most likely. Only time will tell how the Texans secondary will adjust now.
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