FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga – The Atlanta Falcons are continuing to pay attention to their secondary on Thursday. After signing safety Henry Black earlier in the day, reports emerged that they also worked out a cornerback on the same day.
“The Falcons worked out CB C.J. Henderson today, source says,” NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported on X. “TBD whether Atlanta will sign the former first-round pick of the Jaguars, who spent last season with the Steelers after three years with the Panthers.”
The 26-year-old Henderson remains unsigned. He was selected ninth overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2020 NFL Draft, but his career has failed to live up to those lofty expectations to this point.
Henderson played just 10 games with the Jaguars before being traded to the Carolina Panthers in 2021. The Jaguars gave up on Henderson relatively early in his career, sending Henderson and a fifth-round pick to the Panthers for tight end Dan Arnold and a third-round pick after just a season and a half.
He played three seasons in Charlotte but did not appear in a game in 2024. He last played in 2023, where he appeared in 12 games and made seven starts.
The former Florida Gator signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers last season, but did not register a game and finished the season on injured reserve after picking up a neck injury.
Over his five-year NFL career, he has recorded 172 tackles, three interceptions, two forced fumbles, 16 defended passes, and a sack.
Henderson was the second cornerback taken in the 2020 draft. He was selected between Jeff Okudah (No. 3), another former Falcon, and A.J. Terrell No. 16. Okudah played for the Falcons in 2023 before leaving as a free agent for the Houston Texans. He’s now trying to make the Minnesota Vikings 53-man roster.
Damon Arnette (No. 24), Noah Igbinoghene (No. 30), and Jeff Gladney (No. 31) joined Terrell as cornerbacks taken in the first round in 2020. The Falcons clearly got the pick of the litter from that group.
The front office has continued making roster moves, and the Falcons have now worked out several players, including former Buccaneer Jordan Whitehead, on Wednesday.
