Entering Friday greater than $31MM over the cap, the Bills are releasing a longtime staple. They are chopping cornerback Taron Johnson, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler reports.
While boundary cornerbacks have come and gone in Buffalo throughout the Brandon Beane period, Johnson has patrolled the slot for practically all the franchise’s resurgent interval. The 2018 fourth-round choose was tied to a three-year, $30.75MM contract. Two years remained on the deal.
This launch isn’t slated to provide a lot in the way in which of cap financial savings — until Buffalo designates the cornerstone defender as a post-June 1 reduce. A post-June 1 designation would save the Bills $8.67MM in 2026 cap area. Otherwise, the membership would save lower than $2MM this yr and incur greater than $8MM in lifeless cash. Teams are allowed two post-June 1 designations yearly.
The Bills used the identical defensive system all through Johnson’s tenure, however with Sean McDermott being fired and Jim Leonhard coming in as DC, a giant change is on faucet. Buffalo might be anticipated to deploy Christian Benford and 2025 first-round choose Maxwell Hairston as its boundary starters, however a gap now exists within the slot.
Johnson, 29, began 87 video games with the Bills and had performed a minimum of 74% of the group’s defensive snaps for the reason that 2020 season. He signed a three-year, $24MM extension in 2021 and topped Kenny Moore‘s then-slot-record deal in 2024. That pact has since been surpassed — although, not by an excessive amount of — however Johnson might be an attention-grabbing free agent after being tied to an eight-figure AAV for the previous two seasons.
More to come back.
