Bills Cut Chauncey Gardner-Johnson After Spitting Suspension
Sources: The #Bills are releasing safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.
The just looked at a starting safety and decided they would rather have an empty locker than deal with him for one more week. Chauncey Gardner-Johnson is officially out of a job.
Getting cut mid-season is tough. Getting cut immediately after serving a one-game suspension for spitting at an opponent is a special kind of career achievement. According to Jordan Schultz, the released the veteran defensive back on Tuesday, ending an experiment that lasted exactly six starts.
The final straw was not a blown coverage or a missed tackle. It was a literal spitting incident directed at Las Vegas Raiders tight end during Buffalo's 33-30 win. The NFL handed down a one-game suspension without pay, and the apparently decided that was all the excuse they needed to clean house.
If you are wondering how a Super Bowl contender can just casually dump a six-game starter, look at what happened on Sunday. While Gardner-Johnson was serving his timeout, the Buffalo defense absolutely suffocated the in a 36-10 blowout. When your defense easily covers the spread and holds a heavy-hitting offense to a single touchdown without you, your leverage drops to zero.
This is the reality of NFL roster math. If you are an All-Pro, teams will put up with a lot of extracurricular nonsense. If you are a replaceable piece in a secondary that just proved it does not need you to win by 26 points, spitting on a guy is a one-way ticket to the waiver wire.
Now Gardner-Johnson hits the open market with a fresh suspension on his resume and a reputation for unnecessary drama. Some safety-needy team will probably take a flier on him before the playoffs, but for now, the are moving forward with a quieter, significantly less hydrated defensive backfield.