Adding depth in the defensive secondary was a clear priority for the Buffalo Bills and general manager Brandon Beane. After spending the last two years watching one young, elite corner develop alongside a litany of players—some who were injury prone, some who were disinterested in the game, and some who just weren’t very good—the team made a clear effort to add plenty of talent in the back end of the defense.
In adding players, the Bills even found some familiar faces on the free-agent market. In today’s installment of “90 players in 90 days,” we profile one such player.
Name: E.J. Gaines
Number: 26
Position: CB
Height/Weight: 5’10” 190 lbs.
Age: 27 (28 on 2/23/20)
Experience/Draft: 6; selected in the sixth round (188 overall) by the St. Louis (now Los Angeles) Rams in the 2014 NFL Draft
College: Missouri
Acquired: Signed with Buffalo as an unrestricted free agent on 3/25/19
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Gaines begins his second stint with the Bills on a one-year contract that totals $2.1 million. Only $250,000 of that is guaranteed, so if Buffalo cuts him prior to the beginning of the regular season, that’s all he’ll count against the salary cap. His 2019 salary cap hit is $1,787,500.
2018 Recap: Gaines left the Bills for the Cleveland Browns last year, and he spent most of the season injured. Gaines only appeared in six games for Cleveland, two of which were starts. He combined for 13 tackles, three pass breakups, and one interception on the year. The reason he missed so much time? Concussions—Gaines suffered two concussions in a three-week span and was ultimately placed on injured reserve on November 7.
Positional outlook: Gaines joins a crowded secondary that has plenty of new faces to go with strong holdovers from lat year. Tre’Davious White is locked in as the team’s top corner, and Taron Johnson should be the top slot corner. That leaves Gaines battling with incumbent starter Levi Wallace and fellow free-agent addition Kevin Johnson for the starting gig across from White. Cam Lewis, Ryan Lewis, Lafayette Pitts, and Denzel Rice fill out the remainder of the depth chart.
2019 Offseason: Gaines has participated in OTAs, working at both outside corner and slot corner. He did miss practice on June 4 due to an undisclosed injury.
2019 Season outlook: Gaines is an excellent addition to Buffalo’s secondary. He clearly fits well in head coach Sean McDermott and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier’s defensive scheme, as he had a career-year in 2017 with the team. His ability to play the slot and the outside makes him a valuable depth piece at worst at a position where depth is crucial. While his injury history is troubling, the team has far more depth than it did when he was here last, so if Gaines were to miss time (which we should expect at this point), it won’t be as big a blow. Consider Gaines a near-lock to be among the team’s top five cornerbacks at the beginning of the season. The best-case scenario for him is that he wins the CB2 job, and the worst-case scenario is that he rotates in as a backup and plays special teams. Either way, the Bills win.