Buffalo Bills fans were up in arms last offseason when the team added both E.J. Gaines and Kevin Johnson at cornerback. With Tre’Davious White a stud on one side, you don’t need three guys who could potentially start on the other.
General manager Brandon Beane proved to be wise. Gaines was hurt during training camp. As the Bills entered the postseason, Wallace was hurt. Johnson was the last man standing and played 100% of the snaps against the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round.
You can never have enough cornerbacks.
With that being said, Buffalo enters this offseason exactly as they entered last offseason. A stud in White, a solid player in Wallace, and a good slot cornerback in Taron Johnson with Siran Neal as your Big Nickel cornerback. But, as we saw last year, that’s not a lot of depth.
I am fine with Wallace being the starting cornerback heading into 2020. He’s physically limited and always will be, but if he’s the weakest link on your defense, that’s a pretty darn good defense.
Even if Wallace is the starting cornerback, they need to put a solid asset into the depth at the position. Whether that’s re-signing Johnson, adding a different veteran with starting experience, or drafting a mid-round cornerback to compete for time, Buffalo needs depth at the very least. This would be my preferred route as I have bigger plans for that money and those draft picks.
I also wouldn’t be upset if the Bills took a big swing, and signed a more impactful player opposite White. Bring in a player for $8 million per season or spend a second-round pick to solidify the position, and make Wallace your really solid depth piece. That would put Bills fans up in arms again, but their secondary would be darn impressive.
Next Read
- All-22 analysis of Kevin Johnson’s 2019 season
- All-22 analysis of Levi Wallace’s 2019 season
- Contract projection shows a pay increase for Kevin Johnson in 2020
- Buffalo Bills don’t have enough cornerbacks for 2020 offseason
- Value free agent options limited at cornerback
- 2020 NFL Draft prospects could be starters or depth
- Opinion: Bills would be fine with Wallace as CB2, but they’ll need to add depth or re-sign Johnson