Entering Friday more than $31MM over the cap, the Bills are releasing a longtime staple. They are cutting cornerback Taron Johnson, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler reports.
While boundary cornerbacks have come and gone in Buffalo during the Brandon Beane era, Johnson has patrolled the slot for nearly all of the franchise’s resurgent period. The 2018 fourth-round pick was tied to a three-year, $30.75MM contract. Two years remained on the deal. By moving on now, the Bills avoid a $1.18MM advanced salary guarantee — which would have vested next week.
[RELATED: Examining Bills’ Offseason Blueprint]
This release is not slated to produce much in the way of cap savings — unless Buffalo designates the cornerstone defender as a post-June 1 cut. A post-June 1 designation would save the Bills $8.67MM in 2026 cap space. Otherwise, the club would save less than $2MM this year and incur more than $8MM in dead money. Teams are allowed two post-June 1 designations annually.
The Bills used the same defensive system throughout Johnson’s tenure, but with Sean McDermott being fired and Jim Leonhard coming in as DC, a big change is on tap. Buffalo will be expected to deploy Christian Benford and 2025 first-round pick Maxwell Hairston as its boundary starters, but a hole now exists in the slot.
Johnson, 29, started 87 games with the Bills and had played at least 74% of the team’s defensive snaps since the 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 — though, not by too much — but Johnson will be an interesting free agent after being tied to an eight-figure AAV for the past two seasons.
A recent report indicated the Bills were considering moving Johnson to safety. Jordan Poyer became needed at the position, and Taylor Rapp is expected to be released. While the Bills will need help at that position — with Damar Hamlin joining Poyer as unsigned — they had been able to count on Johnson inside for nearly a decade. Pro Football Focus, however, had viewed Johnson as slipping recently. The advanced metrics site graded him outside the top 70 in each of the past two seasons.