Raiders To Acquire CB Taron Johnson

It had initially been reported that the Bills would release Johson, but the Raiders will prevent him from hitting the open market. Meanwhile, Buffalo will get some value out of his departure.

This will officially end Johnson’s eight-year tenure in Buffalo, which selected him in the fourth round of the 2018 draft. The Weber State product played for head coach Sean McDermott during his entire run in Western New York.

Johnson generally thrived under McDermott during his first six seasons, leading general manager Brandon Beane to hand the defender a three-year, $31MM extension in March 2024. The agreement temporarily made Johnson the highest-paid slot corner in the league, but injuries have contributed to a drop in performance since he earned second-team All-Pro honors in 2023.

Johnson has totaled nine absences since 2024, including four last year. Across 13 games and eight starts in 2025, Johnson picked up 57 tackles and four passes defensed. Pro Football Focus ranked his play 74th among 112 qualifying corners.

The Bills fired McDermott in January and promoted offensive coordinator Joe Brady as their new head coach. Brady brought in an outside defensive coordinator, Jim Leonhard, to overhaul the unit. That left Johnson’s future up in the air. Shifting the longtime nickel corner to safety was under consideration, but the Bills elected to cut ties with Johnson instead.

The Raiders weakened their defense in the short term when they agreed to ship superstar pass rusher Maxx Crosby to the Ravens on Thursday. Nevertheless, the team has ample cap space and draft capital to upgrade the rest of its roster. The Raiders and new defensive coordinator Rob Leonard will count on Johnson to help improve their slot corner situation. If Johnson doesn’t rebound in 2026, the Raiders would save $10.04MM in releasing him while taking on no dead money next offseason. That makes Johnson a worthwhile flyer for a Las Vegas team with a slew of needs to address.

Connor Byrne contributed to this post.