The Houston Texans have faced many challenges on their way to a 0-3 start to their season. Yet, one area
The Houston Texans have faced many challenges on their way to a 0-3 start to their season. Yet, one area they’ve had profound success in is on defense, where they rank fifth in points allowed. So when they released C.J. Gardner-Johnson, a starting safety, it came as a major shock.
Of course, we’ve since learned that there was some internal friction between Gardner-Johnson and the Texans’ coaching staff. Yet, now that Gardner-Johnson has been cut free, it’s time to look at some new landing spots for the 27-year-old Super Bowl winner.
Dallas Cowboys
One team that could certainly use more impact playmakers after the Micah Parsons trade is the Dallas Cowboys. After all, they’re allowing the most yards per pass in the NFL through three weeks, at 9.0 YPA. While part of that is due to the early absence of Daron Bland, the Cowboys need to make changes before their defense costs them more wins.
Gardner-Johnson won’t just help the team reduce their passing yards allowed each week, he’s also a ballhawk who has twice had seasons with six interceptions, including in 2024. Plus, we imagine he’d have extra motivation going up against the Philadelphia Eagles, who traded him after last year’s Super Bowl win.
Pittsburgh Steelers
One team that could have a perfect home for Gardner-Johnson is Mike Tomlin’s Pittsburgh Steelers. Not only did they trade All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick before the season kicked off, their defense is off to a torrid start by Pittsburgh’s standards. They enter Week 4 having allowed the NFL’s 22nd-most points and Tomlin’s defenses have never finished a season ranking worse than 20th.
Since he’ll come cheaply as a free agent signee, we can’t imagine why the Steelers wouldn’t have interest in a player who’s made 64 starts in the past seven seasons.
Buffalo Bills
At 3-0, the Buffalo Bills look like Super Bowl contenders, but it’s not because of their defense, which ranks 20th in points allowed. The safety spot is one of particular weakness, where starting duo Taylor Rapp and Cole Bishop have graded 69th and 53rd among safeties graded by Pro Football Focus this season.
To be fair, Gardner-Johnson graded 76th before his release, but he ranked 22nd with the Eagles last season. It’s possible a change of scenery, where he wouldn’t be disgruntled as he was in Houston, could net even better results. As a result, why not Buffalo?
Minnesota Vikings
One of the issues Gardner-Johnson reportedly had in Houston was that coaches weren’t allowing him to blitz enough. If true, the Minnesota Vikings have to be high on his list. After all, Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores loves to scheme up creative blitz designs that confuse opponents, often including safeties into the mix too.
Only five teams have a higher blitz rate than the Vikings thus far, and after Cam Bynum left in free agency, there’s room for a third safety to receive more snaps, especially considering Harrison Smith is 36 years old. Plus, Gardner-Johnson is a former cornerback too, and the Vikings only have four on their roster. Whether it’s as a safety or seeing some snaps at corner, Gardner-Johnson can help Minnesota’s defense in 2025 and possibly for years to come.
Related: 1 Bold Prediction for Every Game in NFL Week 4, Including Travis Hunter’s Big Day
Category: General Sports
