90 Buffalo Bills players in 90 days: CB Kyler McMichael

The Buffalo Bills have built an excellent secondary under the direction of head coach Sean McDermott. Buffalo has routinely extracted the best possible play out of some overlooked pieces in the back end of the defense, turning good players into stars and overlooked youngsters into viable professional defenders.

For a young cornerback’s development, starting off in Buffalo is a great thing; however, for a team with championship aspirations, it may not be the best place to land if that young player has eyes on seeing the field. The old adage goes that you can never have too many corners, but there are only so many roster spots for a team to use.

In today’s edition of “90 players in 90 days,” we profile one of Buffalo’s depth corners — an athletic second-year man looking to make an impression.

Name: Kyler McMichael

Number: 32

Position: CB

Height/Weight: 6’ 202 pounds

Age: 23 (24 on 3/22/2024)

Experience/Draft: 1; signed as UDFA with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers following the 2022 NFL Draft

College: UNC

Acquired: Signed to Bills’ practice squad on 9/1/2022

Financial situation (per Spotrac): McMichael signed a reserve/futures deal on January 23 of this year. The two-year contract is worth a total of $1.665 million, of which $9,000 is guaranteed. For the 2023 season, McMichael carries a cap hit of $754,500.

2022 Recap: McMichael appeared in three preseason games for Tampa Bay, notching six total tackles in those contests. He was waived at the end of August as part of final cuts, and he signed with Buffalo’s practice squad on September 1. That’s where he remained all season, as he has yet to make his regular-season debut.

Positional outlook: McMichael faces an uphill battle for time in what is a deep, talented secondary for the Bills. The top six corners, not necessarily in order, are Tre’Davious White, Kaiir Elam, Christian Benford, Dane Jackson, Taron Johnson, and Siran Neal. After that, McMichael is battling Cam Lewis, Alex Austin, and Ja’Marcus Ingram.

2023 Offseason: McMichael is healthy and ready for the offseason program.

2023 Season outlook: Barring injuries or some spectacular play on McMichael’s part, the second-year man is auditioning either for a place on Buffalo’s practice squad or a spot on another team’s roster. The Bills under Sean McDermott have been outstanding at finding defensive backs in all areas and rounds of the draft, so this is a good place for a young player to develop. If he’s looking for time in real games, though, he’s not likely to find it with the Bills this year.