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Alaina GetzenbergMar 12, 2026, 06:55 PM ET<\/p>\n
Close<\/a>Alaina Getzenberg covers the Buffalo Bills for ESPN. She joined ESPN in 2021. Alaina was previously a beat reporter for the Charlotte Observer and has also worked for CBS Sports and the Dallas Morning News. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley.<\/p>\n Multiple Authors<\/p>\n BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Bills<\/a> have added yet another outside defensive free agent, agreeing to terms with safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson<\/a> on a one-year deal worth up to $6 million, his agents told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Thursday.<\/p>\n Gardner-Johnson, 28, becomes Buffalo’s third outside defensive free agent signing this week, joining pass rusher Bradley Chubb<\/a> and cornerback Dee Alford<\/a>. The Bills are building the team’s defense under new coordinator Jim Leonhard, shifting from former head coach Sean McDermott’s scheme of the past nine seasons.<\/p>\n Safety was among the positions of need for the Bills, who have not re-signed any of their outgoing free agents at the position — Jordan Poyer<\/a>, Damar Hamlin<\/a> and Darnell Savage<\/a>. Taylor Rapp<\/a>, a Week 1 starter last season, was cut in a cap-saving move ahead of the new league year.<\/p>\n Editor’s Picks 1 Related<\/p>\n Gardner-Johnson appears likely to have the opportunity to compete for the starting job alongside Cole Bishop<\/a>, a starter last season and the team’s only locked-in player at safety. Bishop is going into his third season and played alongside a rotating door of players last year, largely due to injuries.<\/p>\n Gardner-Johnson’s deal continues a trend for president of football operations and general manager Brandon Beane, who has made a series of one-year commitments to veterans with the hope they can reach a high level in Buffalo.<\/p>\n Originally a fourth-round pick by the Saints<\/a> in 2019, Gardner-Johnson spent the first three seasons of his career in New Orleans before stints with the Philadelphia Eagles<\/a> (2022 and 2024) and Detroit Lions<\/a> (2023). This past season, he spent time briefly with the Baltimore Ravens<\/a> and then played in games for the Houston Texans<\/a> and Chicago Bears<\/a>. He had seven starts in Chicago, recording 51 tackles, two interceptions and four passes defensed.<\/p>\n Gardner-Johnson’s best statistical seasons came with the Eagles; he had a career-best six interceptions in each of his two seasons with the team and also helped it win Super Bowl LIX.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alaina GetzenbergMar 12, 2026, 06:55 PM ET CloseAlaina Getzenberg covers the Buffalo Bills for ESPN. She joined ESPN…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-520386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/e586b9cefab746f9a41a9cec425ded1e1019.jpg&w=130&h=130&scale=crop&location=center.jpeg\")
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