George Johnson (American football)

George Johnson (born December 11, 1987)[1] is an American football defensive end who is currently a free agent. He was originally signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in 2010. He played college football at Rutgers. He has also played for the Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, and New Orleans Saints.

George Johnson
Johnson with the Lions in 2014
No. 93, 90
Position:Defensive end
Personal information
Born: (1987-12-11) December 11, 1987
Glassboro, New Jersey
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:265 lb (120 kg)
Career information
High school:Glassboro
(Glassboro, New Jersey)
College:Rutgers
Undrafted:2010
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career NFL statistics as of 2017
Total tackles:66
Sacks:8.5
Forced fumbles:2
Fumble recoveries:2
Pass deflections:2
Player stats at NFL.com

Johnson grew up in Glassboro, New Jersey and starred at Glassboro High School, where he returns annually to run a football camp.[2]

Professional career

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Johnson was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent on May 3, 2010. The Buccaneers released him on August 10, 2010 but signed him two weeks later. On September 5, 2010, Tampa Bay signed him to their practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on December 14, but did not play in a game that season.

Minnesota Vikings

On November 9, 2012, Johnson was signed to the Minnesota Vikings' practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on December 22, 2012. He was released on October 9, 2013.

Detroit Lions

On April 21, 2014, Johnson was signed by the Detroit Lions.[3] In the first game of the 2014 season against the New York Giants, he recorded 1.5 sacks.[4]

Set to be a restricted free agent in 2015, the Lions tendered a one-year contract to Johnson.[5] On April 7, 2015, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers extended a three-year offer sheet to Johnson.[6] The Lions then disputed the sheet on April 13, 2015, sending it to arbitration.[7]

Second stint with Buccaneers

On April 15, 2015, the Lions then traded Johnson and a seventh-round pick to the Buccaneers in exchange for a fifth-round pick.[8] He played in 15 games with 5 starts his first year in Tampa, recording 23 tackles and two forced fumbles.

On August 5, 2016, Johnson was placed on season-ending injured reserve with a hip injury.[9]

On September 1, 2017, Johnson was released by the Buccaneers.[10]

Second stint with the Lions

On September 20, 2017, Johnson was signed by the Lions.[11] He was released on October 18, 2017.[12] He was re-signed again on November 14, but was released the next day.[13][14]

New Orleans Saints

On December 12, 2017, Johnson signed with the New Orleans Saints.[15] In his first game with New Orleans against the New York Jets, he recorded a sack. In the following contest against the Atlanta Falcons, he was credited with another 1.5 sacks.

On March 7, 2018, Johnson signed a one-year contract extension with the Saints for $1.005 million.[16] He was released on September 1, 2018.[17]

New York Guardians

In October 2019, Johnson was selected by the New York Guardians in the open phase of the 2020 XFL Draft.[18] He was released during mini-camp in December 2019.

References
  1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 14, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Odenbrett, Austin (July 2, 2013). "Minnesota Viking and Glassboro grad George Johnson holds football camp". South Jersey Times. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  3. Yuille, Sean (April 21, 2014). "Lions sign DE George Johnson". PrideOfDetroit.com. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  4. Meinke, Kyle (September 8, 2014). "Lions 35, Giants 14: Matthew Stafford leads Detroit to romp on Monday Night Football". MLive. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
  5. Wilkening, Mike (March 6, 2015). "Lions tender George Johnson as restricted free agent". ProFootballTalk.NBCSports.com. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  6. Rosenthal, Gregg (April 7, 2015). "Lions' George Johnson signs three-year offer with Bucs". NFL.com. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  7. Orr, Conor (April 13, 2015). "Lions contest Bucs' offer sheet for DE George Johnson". NFL.com. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  8. Patra, Kevin (April 15, 2015). "Lions trade George Johnson to Buccaneers". NFL.com. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  9. "Buccaneers Sign Ifedi, Place Johnson on IR". Buccaneers.com. August 5, 2016. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  10. Smith, Scott (September 1, 2017). "Bucs Start Roster Trim with D-Line Moves". Buccaneers.com. Archived from the original on September 2, 2017. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  11. "Lions sign DE George Johnson and waive DE Alex Barrett". DetroitLions.com. September 20, 2017. Archived from the original on September 21, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  12. "Lions sign free agents DE Jacquies Smith and T Bryce Harris". DetroitLions.com. October 18, 2017.
  13. "Lions sign free agents WR Jace Billingsley and DE George Johnson". DetroitLions.com. November 15, 2017.
  14. "Lions awarded LB Kasim Edebali via waivers from Denver". DetroitLions.com. November 15, 2017. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  15. Williams, Charean (December 12, 2017). "Saints sign George Johnson, cut Bryce Harris". ProFootballTalk.NBCSports.com.
  16. Erickson, Joel A. (March 7, 2018). "Report: Saints bring back George Johnson on one-year deal". TheAdvocate.com.
  17. "New Orleans Saints make roster reductions to 53". NewOrleansSaints.com. September 1, 2018.
  18. Bender, Bill (October 21, 2019). "XFL Draft picks 2019: Complete results, rosters, players for new football league". Sporting News. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
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