Another NFL chapter closed Tuesday for former Oregon Ducks linebacker D.J. Johnson.
The Washington Commanders released the 27-year-old from their practice squad, ending a brief second stint in the capital after he also failed to stick on the 53-man roster out of camp.
The move was revealed via the NFL transaction log.
For Ducks fans, the move is familiar NFL math more than a surprise. Johnson was never a finished product in Eugene. He arrived from Miami in 2018 as a four-star edge prospect who sat out a year, bounced between tight end and defensive end, then finally settled on the edge for a senior season that got him drafted.
In 2022 he started 10 games, posted 39 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and a team-high six sacks, and earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors. That burst — plus a 4.49 forty and 28 bench reps at the combine — convinced Carolina to trade up to No. 80 overall in 2023.
The production never followed. Johnson appeared in 31 games over three seasons with the Panthers, starting four, and finished with 62 tackles and a half-sack. Carolina waived him in late September 2025.
Washington, where former Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer now works in personnel, signed him to the practice squad on New Year’s Eve, then gave him a futures deal in January.
He was waived again on Aug. 30, re-signed the next day, and cut a second time Tuesday along with cornerback Darius Rush.
Oregon’s connection runs deeper than a one-year statistical spike. Johnson was a Swiss Army knife under Mario Cristobal and later Dan Lanning’s staff: blocking tight end in 2020 (10 catches, three touchdowns), two-way contributor in 2021, full-time rusher in 2022.
That versatility was part of the pitch. At 6-foot-4 and 260 pounds with long arms, he looked like the kind of athlete NFL teams keep around for special teams and developmental snaps.
It has not been enough. The Commanders are already 0-1 and shuffling the edges after reinstating Dorance Armstrong from suspension. Practice-squad spots are scarce, and Johnson’s tape never showed the consistent pass-rush plan scouts wanted after that late college surge.
He is now a free agent again, three years after leaving Autzen as a third-round pick.
For Oregon, his story is typical of the modern pipeline: a high-upside transfer who finally broke out as a senior, got paid on potential, and is still hunting a stable NFL foothold.
Whether another team sees the same traits the Ducks saw in 2022 will decide if this is a pause or the end of the line.
