It was three seasons ago that DeMeco Ryans left his role as the defensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers and took on the head coach position with the Houston Texans. Though the Niners have weathered the storm somewhat since his absence, the Texans have seen immediate success from Ryans.
Houston has won the AFC in both seasons with Ryans in charge. Just like San Francisco, with Super Bowl aspirations their own, the Texans added a talented defensive back in the offseason with championship experience.
Unfortunately for Ryans and his team, the experiment of using the well-traveled C.J. Gardner-Johnson is over after just three games this season.
As first reported by NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Houston parted ways with the 27-year-old veteran:
Sources: The #Texans are releasing S C. J. Gardner-Johnson. A surprise. pic.twitter.com/8hfYC8weCi
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 23, 2025
Gardner-Johnson ultimately won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles the previous season before heading to Houston.
After failing to be an asset for Ryans and Texans' secondary, Gardner-Johnson is looking for a new home. Reports from outlets such as USA Today and NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com have alluded to no reunion with head coach Nick Sirianni is in sight.
Houston's loss could be the Niners' gain, though. Here's why.
Adding a Super Bowl-winning defensive back would be golden for 49ers
For starters, San Francisco lost a few members of the secondary during the offseason: cornerback Charvarius Ward and safety Talanoa Hufanga.
Last year, the 49ers defense was responsible for 11 takeaways in the air. Garner-Johnson had more than half of that total alone in 2024 with the Eagles.
Since he broke into the NFL with the New Orleans Saints in 2019, Gardner-Johnson has tallied at least one pick every year. The safety has logged six interceptions in two of the past three seasons, both of which were with Philadelphia.
Robert Saleh has returned to his role as the defensive coordinator with the Niners this season. Already, the defense is off to a great start despite losing defensive end Nick Bosa to an ACL tear and San Francisco being one of five teams, defensively, without an interception.
Adding a gifted safety like Gardner-Johnson could potentially help the 49ers chances of changing the no-INT conundrum thus far, and it isn't unlike he's unfamiliar with a Saleh-like defense, since Ryans employs the same philosophy in Houston.