There’s just something about Buffalo Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson that can never, ever let things slide.
The latest example came after Thursday’s practice when Gardner-Johnson was asked about facing his former team, the Houston Texans, in the season opener on September 13 in Houston, and if he was still upset about their messy split early in the 2025 season.
As you may have guessed, he certainly was.
“I’m glad (the reporter) brought that up … that Texans (expletive) … you got me pissed now,” Gardner-Johnson said. “What did I really do? They released me because I wasn’t gentle with the team and I didn’t fit well. Why the hell didn’t the coach speak up about it? … After a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, I didn’t fit well. We already started 0-3 so how can it possibly be on one person? The situation and how they handled me, it just wasn’t respectful. So as a grown man, when you see me, you see me.”
You aren’t imagining things at this point … yes, that definitely sounds like a threat!
Gardner-Johnson, who had missed several practices with a minor injury, was back on Thursday. He signed a 1-year, $3.5 million contract with the Bills on March 12.
Massive Shocker for Texans to Release CJGJ
It took the Philadelphia Eagles 2 seasons with safety Gardner-Johnson to realize they’d had enough — they traded him to the Texans despite having 12 interceptions, winning a Super Bowl, and playing in a narrow Super Bowl loss in the other season.
It took the Texans just 3 games to come to that conclusion.
“Sources: The Texans are releasing S C. J. Gardner–Johnson,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport wrote on his official X account on September 23, 2025. “A surprise.”
The move came just 7 months after the Eagles won a Super Bowl with CJGJ as their starting safety and 6 months after they traded him to the Texans along with a 2026 6th-round pick in exchange for former 1st-round pick and offensive guard Kenyon Green and a 2025 5th-round pick.
“Among the issues Texans experienced behind the scenes with C.J. Gardner–Johnson, per sources, he was critical of teammates in the secondary and didn’t like his role,” Houston KPRC’s Aaron Wilson wrote on his official X account. “It was a locker room issue and ultimately this just wasn’t a good fit for the team and for a talented player … after friction behind the scenes with him complaining about his role, wanting to blitz more, per league sources, and even communicating that he wanted to be traded. It didn’t work out for him here.”
Gardner-Johnson landed briefly with the Baltimore Ravens on their practice squad but never played in a regular-season game before he was released, and finished the season with the Chicago Bears.
CJGJ One Of NFL’s Most Controversial Players
If CJGJ’s mouth and behavior truly got him ushered out of Houston, it would come as no surprise to any NFL fan who has been paying attention to his career.
In an anonymous poll of 110 NFL players by The Athletic released in November 2024, Gardner-Johnson was the runaway winner in response to a question: “Most annoying player in the NFL?”
It was the second year in a row Gardner-Johnson topped a specific category in The Athletic’s anonymous poll, with the “Most Annoying” category changed from when he topped the list for “Biggest Trash Talker” in 2023.
From The Athletic: “Last season we asked players to name the biggest trash-talker. This year, we broadened the question to most annoying, leaving it to the players’ discretion to decide what qualified as annoying. Well, last year’s biggest trash-talker, Philadelphia Eagles defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson, took the crown again.”
One thing Gardner-Johnson did from the moment his NFL career began was start to rack up fines from the NFL. Since 2019, Gardner-Johnson has been fined 9 times for “agitator” type incidents, including twice for fighting and once for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Bills Safety C.J. Gardner Johnson Still ‘Pissed’ at Former Team