The Pittsburgh Steelers Got Some BAD NEWS Today + SIGN C.J. Gardner-Johnson After Surprise Cut?

The Pittsburgh Steelers Got Some BAD NEWS Today + SIGN C.J. Gardner-Johnson After Surprise Cut?

[Music] Tonight on Steelers Talk, the Pittsburgh Steelers just got some bad news that affects their compensatory picks in the 2026 NFL draft. Then we’ll be discussing whether or not this team should go out and sign CJ Gardner Johnson, the safety that was surprisingly released by the Houston Texans today. Then uh Mike Tomlin took the podium today during Tomlin Tuesday. It had some nuggets in there uh that we are going to be breaking down on today’s show. And then uh to wrap up today’s show, I’m going to be breaking down Pittsburgh’s biggest problem in the passing game as it stands here today and what the Steelers can do to make it better moving forward. I appreciate all of you guys for stopping by here today. Make sure you guys uh click that subscribe button because right now here at Chat Sports, there’s only six of our channels here in this entire company that have gotten the silver plaque from YouTube for getting to 100,000 subscribers. And here on Steelers Talk, we are knocking right on the door. But so is Warriors Today, our Warriors channel. And right now, uh we are in a race to get to be the seventh 100K channel here at Chat Sports. And uh here at at our studios here at Chat Sports here in Dallas, uh we have what’s called a wall of fame where we’ve got retired jerseys with the silver plaques for every single channel uh that that gets to 100,000 subscribers. You guys can see on screen here that six channels have gotten uh to 100K and we are right on the door. And right now uh me and our Warriors host Tyler Smitty here. All right, so you guys know Steeler Smitty. He is the host of our Warriors channel. Right now, we have a bet of which team and which channel is going to get to 100,000 subscribers first. And we have bet a $500 steak dinner on the team that is going to get there first. He thinks he’s got a little bit of a lead here. He’s up 2,000 subscribers. But you know what, guys? I’ll tell you this right now. We had more than 5,000 more subscribers than Warriors last month here on Steelers Talk. And if we have another good month, I’m going to be winning this bet. So, if you guys want to help me out here, guys, you want me to win a free steak dinner from Steeler Smitty. Make sure you guys click that subscribe button. The new viewers, we are counting on you guys. If you haven’t clicked that subscribe button yet, but you enjoy our content regularly and you guys want access to all of our videos every single day, help me win a steak dinner. Help us get to 100,000 subscribers and click that subscribe button right now. All right, so now the bad news for the Pittsburgh Steelers is that the New York Giants are benching former Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson after an 0 and3 start to their 2025 season. They will be starting Jackson Dart heading into their week four matchup versus uh the Los Angeles Chargers. And guys, this was extremely predictable. Um, you know, I think Russell Wilson can still be a serviceable starting quarterback with a proper surrounding cast around him. If he has a run game, if he has good receivers to throw to, especially downfield receivers and vertical threats, and he has a good defense, he can still throw the deep ball. He can still deliver a clutch throw every once in a while. Uh, but he’s certainly limited at this point. He’s not dangerous. He’s not MVP Russ or or MVP candidate Russ that he used to be carrying football teams with bad O lines and poor defenses like he was in his prime Seattle days. We saw that last year here in Pittsburgh and go into a team like New York that just doesn’t have the infrastructure to support a limited veteran quarterback like Russell Wilson. It was a pretty predictable result where you start 0 and3 and I don’t know if I necessarily thought it was going to happen this quickly where after only three games he gets benched. Uh, but the end result is something that I think we all saw coming. And this is probably it for Russell Wilson as a legitimate QB1 for an NFL team. Um, and he’s one of these kind of like high-profile guys that I don’t know if you want to necessarily be your backup quarterback. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens with Russell Wilson. I’m sure this year he’ll stick it out, be a really good mentor for Jackson Dart as he goes through his rookie season there in the Big Apple. But moving forward, I’m not sure if Russell Wilson is going to even play another NFL season. uh because I highly doubt any team sees him as a legitimate starter at this point in time. But you might be saying, Jack, how is that bad news for the Steelers? We avoided bringing him back. How is that bad news? Well, the bad news for the Steelers, this does affect Pittsburgh’s compensatory uh pick that they’re going to be getting for him uh for letting him go in free agency this year. If he would have played a certain amount of snaps in a certain amount of games for the New York Giants this year, the pick would have been better than what it’s going to be now. I think it would have been a third round pick if he would have played a certain amount this season and it would have just been a couple more weeks, but he could even hold off to mid-season. So, thanks a lot, Russell Wilson. Uh, we get a worse pick because of that. Um, but at the end of the day, I think we all saw that coming. And at the end of the day here, guys, I think Pittsburgh made the right call at quarterback this year. not only uh you know bringing in a different veteran other than Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, but also to not draft a quarterback early either because you know the quarterbacks that are playing early outside of Cam Ward who the Steelers were not getting are not looking too great. Maybe they may we’ll see how Jackson Dart does. But I’m happy with Aaron Rogers for this season in a win now year and then next year the quarterback class certainly looks better for the Steelers uh to take their future franchise quarterback when the draft is in the Steel City next spring. So now let’s move forward here with our next topic talking about CJ Gardner Johnson who was surprisingly released by the Houston Texans today. Um there’s some reporting here from Aaron Wilson who is very connected with the Texans organization saying sources Texans released CJ Gardner Johnson after friction behind the scenes with veteran safety, criticism of teammates, complaints about his role including wanting to blitz more frequently and a trade request. And then Wilson uh elaborates here saying among the issues Texans experience behind the scenes with CJ Gardner Johnson. Per sources he was uh critical of teammates in the secondary and didn’t like his role. It was a locker room issue and ultimately this just wasn’t a good fit for the team uh and for a talented player. So this wasn’t an issue of CJ Gardner Johnson can’t play football. Uh this was an issue of uh you know he didn’t like what they were doing defensively. He didn’t like his role there. apparently he wanted the Texans to blitz more and they weren’t blitzing enough to his liking. Uh so he was being critical of the coaching staff of his teammates and they kind of got sick of his antics. So the question is should the Steelers consider bringing him in? Uh obviously they just brought in Jabril Peppers. Deshawn Elliot is supposed to be coming back from injury here soon, but we know that Mike Tomlin has dabbled with three safety packages in the past and this is somebody that just won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles last year. Now, personally, guys, I’m good uh passing on him. All right? Like, if he’s being brought in, I think he’s gonna want a full-time starting role with whatever team he goes to. I don’t think the Steelers are offering that right now. Jabril Peppers looked really good last week against the Patriots. We know what Deshawn Elliott is capable of. Um, and I don’t think that, uh, CJ Gardner Johnson would be too thrilled with having a rotational third safety role here in Pittsburgh. You guys can take a look at what the Steelers have at their disposal now. And once Deshawn Elliott and Jabril Peppers um you know are are back and they’re they are full force playing together. I think that’s going to be one of the better safety duos in the National Football League guys. And then in terms of backups, Juan Thornnehill, plenty of playing experience. Same thing with Chuck Clark. Even this season, those two have played a ton. So if there’s another injury to somebody in the safety room, you have players uh that have experience playing in this defense. So um personally, I don’t want the headache of bringing in a CJ Gardner Johnson. Um and and maybe you know if you didn’t bring in Jabril Peppers, if you decided to sign elsewhere and you were still in need of another safety, you think about doing this. But personally right now, guys, I don’t want to deal with the headache. I like where this team is out. I’m excited about Deshawn Elliot and Jabril Peppers. Uh so I’m going to pass on CJ Gardner Johnson. So what say you guys? Let me know down there in the comment section for today’s pin question. Would you sign CJ Gardner Johnson? Give me a yes or a no down there in the comments section. Like I mentioned, this will be the pin comment on today’s show. So, in just a second here, I’m going to tell you about our sponsor today at Omaha Stakes. While I’m telling you about our sponsor today, give me a yes or a no down there in the comments section. Now, uh you guys know with this uh road to 100,000 subscribers, a steak is on the line between me and Steeler Smitty, but you guys can get some great steaks today from our friends at Omaha Stakes. Uh and you guys can get uh anything from handcrafted steaks uh to delicious fall favorites. Omaha Stakes delivers the world’s best steak experience. Enjoy USDA certified tender steaks, juicy burgers, cozy and convenient comfort meals, plus tailgating favorites like chicken wings, smashburgers, and big deli style franks. And now during their redhot sale event, you can get 50% off sitewide at Omaha Stakes.com. Plus, our listeners get an extra $35 off with promo code Steelers at checkout. So, not only do you get the 50% off uh at available to everybody at their website with the red hot sale, but you also get 35 additional dollars off when you use our code Steelers. I’m actually making steaks tonight with Cassie. Uh you know, Dancing with the Stars is on tonight, so Cassie doesn’t want to cook, so I am cooking up some steaks. All right. And you better believe my choice is definitely Omaha Steaks, where you guys can get premium cuts of meat for absolutely fantastic prices, especially when you use our promo code Steelers. Get fired up for fall grilling with Omaha Stakes today. Visit omahastak.com for 50% off sitewide during their redhot sale event. And for an extra $35 off, use promo code Steelers at checkout. That’s 50% off at omahastakess.com and get an additional $35 off your order with promo code Steelers at checkout. See the site for details. A big thank you to Omaha Stakes for sponsoring today’s edition of Steelers Talk. So today, Coach T took the podium for Tomlin Tuesday uh for his weekly pressers as this team prepares to fly to Dublin for their uh week four matchup versus the Minnesota Vikings. He gave some very positive injury updates. This team is finally starting to get healthy. Alex Heismith is going to be out once again this week. That was expected, guys. Uh but two guys that Tomlin said quote unquote have a chance to play are Deshawn Elliot, the safety with a knee injury and Joey Porter Jr. who’s been dealing with a hamstring. So, uh, he said that participation and the quality of that participation will be their guide as to whether these two will have a chance to play, but I’m I’m telling you, man, getting these guys back would be absolutely huge for the Pittsburgh Steelers defense. Joey Porter Jr. is their press man corner, and without him, they can’t really play a whole lot of press man. Um, uh, and then Deshawn Elliott, obviously, he does a lot for the run game. He’s very good buzzing down from two high safety looks into cover three. Uh, doing a lot of that very creative stuff. Um, and obviously with the communication aspect of things, Deshawn Elliott brings a lot of that to the table as well. So hopefully these two guys can get back into the fold and I think once you have this entire uh secondary healthy, they’re going to be able to do some really good things moving forward uh this season. Uh, also Mike Tomlin said today that Dererick Harmon is still quote unquote catching up on conditioning, which is why he is on a limited snap count. It sounded like today during the press conference that that limited snap count will continue into this week’s matchup versus the Minnesota Vikings. I would assume after the by-week that would probably be taken off so he could be uh you know given full-time starter status as early as week six versus the Cleveland Browns at home. But this week, what I would love to see if that’s the case is I would just switch Keano Benton to five technique instead of one tech. Uh, even though Keano held up better last week than he did in the previous two weeks, I still think he’s better as a one gap penetrator as opposed to a two gapping nose tackle. Guess who was really good with the two gapping stuff last week, guys? Daniel Aqual. That’s what he is known for is that run defense. Uh, that stack peak shed, taking on double teams, two gapping, all that stuff. Kiano Benson, that’s not his game. Uh, he’s much more of a shoot through a gap, go get a guy. He’s done some really good stuff in the run game. actually has a couple TFLs and some big-time disruptive plays when he’s allowed to shoot gaps and be a disruptor because that’s the type of player he is. So, uh, you know, play to the strengths of your players. I think that, you know, playing Cam Hayward at three tech, obviously, he’s phenomenal there. Daniel Aqual, I think if you give him a full-time starting role on early downs as the one tech, that’s phenomenal. And then Kiano Benson can shoot gaps as the five tech. And then you can have Derek Carman and YA Black, the two rookies, rotate in uh throughout the game. And listen guys, it really is a process here guys. Mike Tomlin says uh that he’s going to quote unquote expand the menu defensively uh when the secondary builds more chemistry throughout the season. And specifically, he’s pointing to the lack of experience that he that the players in this secondary in particular uh have in this Steelers defense to start this season and how it’s kind of limiting the types of postnap rotations and all this different stuff that they can run at the beginning of the season successfully. And I got to say, man, I know that a lot of Skoos fans will roll their eyes at that and say, “What is training camp for and what is preseason for?” You know, you get this stuff figured out in the preseason, but I really do think that this does make some sense. This team does not have a lot of chemistry and trust playing together. So, if you’re doing all these crazy postnap rotations and all this different stuff, it’s going to take a lot of time to get those things right. And if you deploy too many of those exotic looks, there’s going to be miscommunications. Just last week against the New England Patriots, guys, you had a a really tough miscommunication between Patrick Queen and Peyton Wilson on a disguised Tampa 2 look that led to a wideopen touchdown in the middle of the end zone. That was the Patriots’s second touchdown of the day. Um, so you know, all these different moving parts. And listen guys, yesterday all five Steelers starting defensive backs last year weren’t with the team. All right, you had of course Jaylen Ramsey, then Brandon Eckles, Darius Slay, all three of those corners weren’t with the team last year. And then Chuck Clark and Juan Thornhill. So all five of the starting sec all five members of the starting secondary were not on the team last year. So they’re still learning how to play with each other and because of that we are seeing especially on early downs some more uh you know less post snap rotations more vanilla coverages pre- snap um and all that different stuff. Um but you know the truth of the matter is guys teams that have more continuity uh of the talent on their team can run more you know complex post snap rotations disguises uh because they know how to play with each other. They trust each other. They know that the players in that defense can execute the roles that they’re asking them to execute. And you know, as the season goes on, I think teams with a lot of new players like the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to get better and better as the season goes on, or at least that’s the expectation for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And I also think it’s going to help to get uh uh Elliot and JPJ back specifically because these guys have experience in this defense. They know what the expectations are from Mike Tomlin and Tara Lost and they know what to do when they make certain calls and certain uh non-traditional Tampa rotations and all this different stuff that Mike Tomlin and Terara Lost have shown in the past, but they’re not showing nearly as much at the beginning of this season because clearly they’re concerned about the level of communication in the secondary with all these new players that are playing with each other for the first time. So, my take on the whole situation, guys, is that it’s a reasonable expectation for this defense to get better uh the more that they play together. All right, the more Jaylen Ramsay gets used to the tendencies of Joey Porter Jr. and Deshawn Elliott and they can play off each other and they know where everybody’s going to be at any given time. All right, this is a defense that is really designed to be playing their best football as the season continues on. And frankly, they’re built to play their worst uh football of the season at the beginning of the year. Uh, so if you’re looking for some hope that this Steelers defense is going to be better in January and in December when this team needs to be playing their best football than it was than it is right now in September, I think that that is definitely something you can keep in mind. Uh, as this team looks to continue to build chemistry together, looks to continue to expand the menu of defensive coverages as Mike Tomlin likes to put it. Uh, and then also I would say that this also applies to the offense. All right, the defense wasn’t the only group that experienced a lot of changes. You got a new quarterback. All right, you got new left tackle, new right tackle. All right, you’ve got a new tight end in Janu Smith. You’ve got uh a new number one receiver in DK Metaf, right? You you you got Roman Wilson as your new number three receiver, right? There’s a lot of different parts that were not here last year. So, um you know, it’s going to take a little bit of time here, guys, while this young offensive line gels, while this team finds its identity. Uh but the good news guys is that we’re looking at a team here that has the talent to be playing really good football at the end of the year and kind of make it the opposite of what we saw last year where this team with a lot of continuity uh was you know firing on all cylinders uh in many regards especially on defense to start the year last year and then as the season went on and injuries piled up and stuff like that they completely crumbled. Right. So, um, I’m hoping that we see a different result here in Pittsburgh. And there is a reason to hope and have optimism that this group is going to look better, uh, the further we get along in the season. So, make sure you guys click that thumbs up icon if you haven’t already. If you still believe in this football team, if you think this team is going to get better, if you think this team still has a chance to be playing uh hopefully championship level football by the end of this season, even if they haven’t shown championship level football through the first three weeks, click that thumbs up icon if you’re an optimist. All right, so now let’s talk about the biggest issue with Pittsburgh’s passing game. We just went from some optimism to some pessimism here, guys, which is why uh we like to keep things balanced here on Steelers Talk because it’s not just the positive. It’s it’s not just the negative. We got to talk about the good with the bad. Um because that’s life in the National Football League. It’s never all one way where it’s all bad or all good. So, let’s talk about uh what’s going wrong with the Steelers passing game because Rogers isn’t throwing the ball down the field. Um you know, they’re getting rid of the football really quickly. uh there’s too much pressure on the quarterback. He’s getting hit too much. So, what’s the issue? And I think a lot of people out there in Steelers Nation’s answer to this question is the offensive line isn’t protecting Aaron Rogers. And to some degree, that’s true. All right. But I looked at Pittsburgh’s negative pressure snap. So, that those are the plays where Rogers is under pressure and you have a negative result or there’s a quick pressure put on Rogers that Rogers uh you know, makes a makes into a positive play. So those two things combined, there’s 27 total plays like that on the season through three games. So that’s nine plays per game. All right. And I went through who’s to blame for all of those negative things. Easy uh early losses and then also the negative pressures. All right. On eight of those 27 plays, it was because no uh Steelers wide receivers were open in the concept. Okay. And almost every single time the defense was playing man coverage. So that’s more than any other individual player on the football team. All right. But Troy Fawutanu and Brick Jones have been giving up the the most quick pressures. That’s seven for Fawutanu and six for Jones. Um the interior has been a little bit better. Say Amalo’s given up three uh quick pressures. McCormack’s only given up one. And Zack Frasier has actually been pretty stout. Hasn’t given up a single early pressure this entire season to this point. And then Aaron Rogers, I I put the blame on him for two of these pressure situations where he did have a a receiver to throw to and he didn’t pull the trigger. He was holding the ball for too long. But 10 of these 27 um you know situations here it wasn’t on the offensive line. So you know that’s just way too many where you’re where everybody in the formation everyone in the concept passing downwise uh is just covered up by man coverage. I think that that is the biggest problem with this Steelers passing game right now down the field is that a we talked about it the other day where the run game isn’t good enough to force teams out of these two high safety structures so they can really take away the deep ball, but also u you know in just straight up man coverage, these guys aren’t winning. DK Metaf is literally dead last among wide receivers in the NFL right now according to Pro Football Focus in separation rate. All right. Like literally dead last out of all 32 teams out of all the starting receivers with at least 40 snaps. He is dead last in separation. Calvin Austin has been doing a much better job. He’s above average in separation rate. Um so, you know, he he’s really the guy that they’re relying on to get open and he’s been the most reliable getting open, but Pat Fmouth and John Smith are also getting locked up in man. And these defenses that are going up against the Steelers, you’re seeing a ton of two high man. You are seeing a ton of cover one robber. you are seeing a lot of these coverage coverages where they’re just sitting back there and they’re just in man and nobody’s open for Rogers and as a result he takes a hit or he gets sacked and Steelers fans at home say the offensive line can’t block but really I think the biggest problem here guys is that the Steelers are not finding ways to get people open in man coverage and I actually talked about some of the ways that the Steelers can get people open on our video that we put out earlier today uh where I go over some urgent week four adjustments that can make the Steelers a better football team right now. I’ll put the link to that one in the comments and description of today’s show and I’ll put the chip in the top right. Uh so you guys can check out that video. I talk about what you can do with DK Metaf to get him the ball more and then also some ideas to get Calvin Austin and even Roman Wilson the football a little bit more as well. So just a little bit of a reminder here guys, we are in the road to 100K. We are in a race with Warriors today. First team and first channel to get to 100,000 subscribers gets a $500 steak dinner from the other host. I don’t want to pay $500 to Steeler Smitty. All right, I want to get the free steak. So, if you guys want to click that subscribe button and show uh these Warriors fans who’s boss here, make sure you click that subscribe button for in-depth Steelers coverage like we gave you guys today, every single day right here on Steelers Talk. [Music]

The Pittsburgh Steelers just got some tough news that could impact their season, and Sperry breaks it all down on today’s episode of Steelers Talk. From the latest updates on Pittsburgh’s compensatory pick situation to whether the Steelers should consider signing safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson after his surprise release from the Texans, there’s plenty for fans to keep an eye on. Sperry also dives into Mike Tomlin’s Tuesday press conference, key injury updates on DeShon Elliott and Joey Porter Jr., and the biggest problems in the Steelers passing game with Aaron Rodgers at QB. Stay locked in on all the latest Steelers news, rumors, injury updates, and analysis by subscribing to Steelers Talk with Jack Sperry today!

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NFL Insider Aaron Wilson on Gardner-Johnson via X:
“Sources: #Texans release C.J. Gardner-Johnson after friction behind the scenes with veteran safety, criticism of teammates, complaints about his role, including wanting to blitz more frequently, and a trade request @KPRC2”

Steelers’ Negative Pressure Snaps:
– Coverage: 8
– Troy Fautanu: 7
– Broderick Jones: 6
– Isaac Seumalo: 3
– Aaron Rodgers: 2
– Mason McCormick: 1
– Zach Frazier: 0
– 10 Not On The O-Line

For more Steelers rumors discussion, hit up Jack on Twitter: https://x.com/jack_sperry

Would you bring in C.J. Gardner-Johnson? Yes or No?

Get the inside scoop on Pittsburgh Steelers news & Steelers rumors from ESPN, Sports Illustrated, The Ringer, Barstool Sports, Bleacher Report & others: https://www.chatsports.com/pittsburgh-steelers

Preferred Steelers D-Line Rotation:
– 3-Tech: Cam Heyward
– 1-Tech: Daniel Ekuale
– 5-Tech: Keeanu Benton
– Rotation: Derrick Harmon
– Rotation: Yahya Black

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