The Buffalo Bills released C.J. Gardner-Johnson on Tuesday, ending the safety’s stint with the team after six starts and a one-game suspension.
Buffalo confirmed the move two days after playing without Gardner-Johnson against the Baltimore Ravens. He finished his time with the Bills with 26 tackles and one interception.
The decision also settles a roster question created by his suspension. Gardner-Johnson did not occupy a spot on the 53-man roster in Week 8, allowing Buffalo to promote defensive back Te’Cory Couch on Oct. 31.
The Bills said Couch will stay on the active roster. Gardner-Johnson’s departure leaves Buffalo sorting out its safety rotation after Damar Hamlin and Geno Stone helped cover his absence.
The team’s announcement did not name a permanent replacement or explain why it decided to release him.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s release follows one-game suspension
The NFL suspended Gardner-Johnson after he spit at an opponent during Buffalo’s Week 6 game against the Las Vegas Raiders. He was ejected from that game and subsequently missed the Ravens matchup.
Speaking on Oct. 19, head coach Joe Brady criticized the incident while indicating that Buffalo did not plan to impose additional punishment beyond the league’s suspension.
“He knows that that can’t happen. That’s inexcusable. That’s not the standard that we’re going to have and play with,” Brady said, according to the team’s coverage of his remarks.
Brady also said at the time that Gardner-Johnson remained part of the team’s plans and needed to improve both his play and his conduct.
Tuesday’s release ends that arrangement, though the announcement did not identify the suspension as the reason for the move.
Damar Hamlin and Geno Stone give Bills options at safety
Hamlin had already been handling multiple assignments before Gardner-Johnson’s suspension. Injuries elsewhere in the secondary required him to help at nickel corner before Gardner-Johnson’s ejection against Las Vegas sent him back to safety.
In Buffalo’s Oct. 28 preview of the Ravens game, defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard pointed to Hamlin’s familiarity with Cole Bishop as a benefit. The two had played five games together the previous season.
“I thought Damar did a great job of stepping in,” Leonhard said of Hamlin’s work against the Raiders.
Stone was another option Buffalo used during the suspension. The Bills elevated him from the practice squad for the Ravens game, his first elevation of the season.
Couch’s permanent promotion and Stone’s game-day elevation were separate moves; keeping Couch does not itself settle who starts at safety.
Buffalo’s defense produced a strong result without Gardner-Johnson, holding Baltimore to 145 total yards in a 36-10 win. Zay Flowers finished without a catch on five targets.
That performance came against a Ravens offense disrupted by injuries to Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley, an important qualification when assessing the secondary’s progress.
The Bills next visit the Minnesota Vikings on Monday, Nov. 9. With Gardner-Johnson gone, Buffalo must decide how to distribute his former responsibilities as it prepares for that matchup.
