The tension behind the scenes involving veteran safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson had been brewing for weeks. It was a chaotic, untenable situation where league sources characterized Gardner-Johnson’s approach as unwilling to conform to the team-firs environment.
His dismissal was only a matter of timing because it became clear to the Texans that he wasn’t a fit for their culture and wasn’t going to alter his pattern of behavior and lapses in performance that included multiple, costly coverage busts as he didn’t play within Texans coach DeMeco Ryans’ scheme.
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 along with him making frequent comparisons to what he was accustomed to with the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl championship squad. He argued with teammates, too.
There was also a recurring tendency from Gardner-Johnson to allow game-changing plays, including a touchdown allowed against the Los Angeles Rams to tight end Davis Allen in the season-opener that was incorrectly attributed to cornerback Kamari Lassiter in addition to costly breakdowns against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jacksonville Jaguars.
“C.J, yeah, he had to go,” a Texans player told KPRC 2. “You have to embrace the team culture. If you can’t do that, you can’t be a part of this team. He obviously didn’t do that, so he’s gone. It was a lot.”
Ultimately, it was way too much for his employment to continue with the Texans after acquiring him in an offseason trade from the Eagles in exchange for former first-round offensive guard Kenyon Green. This bold move failed.
Next man up at safety: M.J. Stewart.
“I wish Ceedy the best, unfortunately we just moved on,” Ryans said while declining to explain the reasons behind the decision. “Every decision I make is always in the best interest of our team. It’s my decision to move on, I know it’s best for my team.
“I’m not going to go into all the details of it. Coming from me, the head coach, it was the best for our team. That’s why I made the decision, so I’m not going into any further details on it.”
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.
Gardner-Johnson started the first three games of the season after recovering from a knee injury suffered at The Greenbrier. He intercepted six passes last season on a Super Bowl championship squad.
He recorded 15 tackles, and one quarterback hit with zero interceptions during his short time with the Texans, who are 0-3 for the season. He allowed seven catches on 10 targets for 94 yards, per Next Gen Stats analytics. However, that doesn’t include the plays that were his fault. That included a 46-yard completion to wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. in the loss to Jacksonville that set up the game-winning touchdown run by Travis Etienne Jr.
“I wouldn’t say I felt it coming or anything,“ Texans starting safety Calen Bullock said. ”We just came in here every single day, did our job and kept our hand down and was just working. Whatever decision the organization decides to make, they feel like that’s the best decision. That’s on them.
“It’s not even such a thing as without him or if he was here. The defense is going to keep playing how the defense plays. We’re going to try and go out there, take the ball away more like we’ve been preaching this whole week and focus on the Titans.”
Bullock added that this entire episode “sucks.”
Despite all of the unrest that went on involving Gardner-Johnson, Bullock declined to throw him under the bus. He maintained a high road.
“I wouldn’t say there’s nobody who’s been a bad teammate,” Bullock said. “Well, at least to me, I would say. I wouldn’t say there is nobody who has been a good teammate or got out that comfort zone. Everybody in here is very tight and we’re all close and we all talk to each other every single day and hang with each other.”
Ryans said the Texans didn’t attempt to trade for Gardner-Johnson.
The Texans previously restructured Gardner-Johnson’s contract. This release was unrelated to that financial maneuver, though.
Gardner-Johnson’s converted contract has a $6.58 million signing bonus, a $1.17 million base salary and a salary-cap figure of $3.086 million, down from $9 million. In 2026, he was due a $1.3 million base salary.
What Ryans didn’t say is Gardner-Johnson has already been traded by the New Orleans Saints, the team that drafted him out of the University of Florida, to the Eagles and then to the Texans and has bounced around the NFL with five different teams in the past five seasons. That’s despite the obvious talent Gardner-Johnson has displayed with 319 career tackles and 18 interceptions.
What made Ryans conclude it was time to move on?
He attributed that to his emotional intelligence and understanding of the environment on Kirby Drive.
“I have a great pulse of our team, I know our locker room,” Ryans said. “I know what’s going on with and around our team. I’m always keen and aware of what’s going on. That’s what it should be as a head coach. It’s always my first rule or a team rule for our guys, always protect the team. It starts with me as a head coach to making sure everybody is on the same page with having a team-first mentality. I’ve said that from my opening press conference here and that’ll always be me. It’ll always be about the team. It’ll never be about one person.
“It’ll never be about me personally. It’s collectively as a team, that’s how you go win. That’s how you do great things. You do great things with everybody collectively working together, being on the same page and doing it with a joyful spirit, joyful attitude. I think it’s just having the emotional intelligence just to feel out the room, feel out everything. So, it’s just being a player, coach, everything goes into play there, of me making the decisions that I make. It’s not just being a player but having my eyes open.”
Gardner-Johnson’s fly pattern out of town shouldn’t have come as a surprise to the team, according to Ryans.
And Ryans emphasized that the decision wasn’t really a hard one.
“It’s not hard for me to make decisions when it’s about my team,” Ryans said. “For me, as the head coach, you have to make what others may seem, feel is a difficult decision. But, whenever it’s about the team and I stick to my core values that it’s all about the team, any decision about it is easy for me.
“I know where we stand and I know what everybody here in our organization, on our team, in the locker room, I know what everybody stands for. I know what everyone is about. So, everyone’s looking at me to make the right decision. I’ll always do that for my players.”
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud attributed the decision to general manager Nick Caserio and Ryans.
“I think they had their own reasons,” Stroud said. “I think as a team, we brought him in and he was part of the locker room. I like Ceedy a person. I think he’s growing as a man.
“He’s trying to find a relationship with God, which I think is dope. So, I wish him nothing but the best. I’m going to always be here for him if he ever needs me. I’m always going to be a fan of him.”
As a Texans player, or any NFL player for that matter, it’s about sticking together and pulling in the same direction. The Texans have moved on.
“That’s part of our job,” Bullock said. “We’re all grown men in here. You got to take accountability for when you mess up. I mess up plays and I take accountability. Everybody takes accountability for what they do. It’s our job .”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com