NFL Free Agent Signs With New Team, Immediately Gets Released 30 Minutes Later

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• Fred Johnson was a free agent, then he wasn’t.
• And then, 30 minutes later, he was a free agent again.
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The NFL might look like a game on the outside, but it’s a business on the inside. Fred Johnson found that out the hard way on Tuesday.

Johnson, 24, was an undrafted free agent out of the University of Florida and signed with the Steelers out of college in 2019. After making Pittsburgh’s initial 53-man roster, he was waived by the organization in October of his rookie season.

Not long after being let go by the Steelers, Johnson signed with the Bengals and has been there ever since. Until Tuesday.

Johnson became a restricted free agent when the NFL calendar year opened earlier this month. Cincinnati chose to tender him.

NFL franchises typically tender players who began as an undrafted free agent or players who are restricted free agents. Johnson was both.

After being tendered, that player can still negotiate with other teams and if said player does get an offer from another NFL organization, the original team has the opportunity to match the offer. Should the player choose to accept another team’s deal, the original team receives a compensatory draft pick for the player that was tendered.

In Johnson’s case, the Bengals announced that they had signed him to a one-year contract for 2022 on Tuesday morning.

Not long thereafter, literally less than 30 minutes later, Cincinnati changed its mind. The Bengals waived Johnson.

The 6-foot-6, 325-pound guard will be able to claimed off of waivers. If he does not get picked up, he will become an unrestricted free agent.