Raiders have already begun to address a major roster issue before free agency even begins
The Raiders just traded for Taron Johnson from the Buffalo Bills.
The Las Vegas Raiders have a ton of money to use in free agency and a ton of needs to address. However, not every way they address those needs has to be through free agency. Just days before, they decided to begin addressing the secondary through trade.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rappaport, the Raiders are trading for Buffalo Bills cornerback Taron Johnson. Buffalo is also sending a seventh-round pick, while Vegas sends a sixth. Johnson was going to be released by the Bills if they couldn’t find a trade for him before the start of the new league year. However, Vegas wanted to jump the line for Johnson rather than waiting to try and grab him in free agency.
Johnson will fill a need for the Raiders in the slot, and a desperate need at that. Vegas has so many needs in the secondary, and is expected to make a run at retaining free agent CB Eric Stokes. However, they got started on rebuilding the room a bit early.
Johnson’s 2026 base salary will be just around $8 million, with a cap hit of $8.6 million. This was a good move by the Raiders. Some say Johnson is declining, but if Vegas can bring something out of him with a change of scenery, this could be a huge win. But who is Taron Johnson? Well, I spoke to A to Z Buffalo’s Adam Zientek to get a better feel of who the Raiders are getting.
Raiders trade for cornerback Taron Johnson
Taron Johnson could once be considered the best nickel cornerback in the game of football. The former All-Pro was a standout on Sean McDermott’s defenses over the years and quickly became a fan favorite. He immortalized himself in the Bills Mafia’s hearts forever with his pick-six against quarterback Lamar Jackson in the playoffs.
It’s a sad goodbye. It’s not a surprising goodbye, though, as with new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, times are a-changing in Western New York. Johnson sees himself on the outside looking in after a down year compared to his former All-Pro self. Injuries and just taking a step back in his game overall hurt his chances of returning, even without considering the new regime Leonhard was ushering in.
At one point, there were even rumblings of Johnson switching position to safety, just going to show how far from grace he had fallen with the Bills. Still, if he can get a step back and return to form, then this is a trade the Raiders might look back on as one of the more surprising and impactful trades of the offseason.
At the very least, the Raiders got a really good dude. Clearly, they saw something they were interested in and didn’t want him to hit the open market, a smart move by the Raiders organization.
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