Bills RB Ty Johnson on new deal: ‘A great privilege to be back’

Bills RB Ty Johnson on new deal: ‘A great privilege to be back’

The Bills’ running backs room has seen a lot of changes over the past several seasons as the front office has looked at ways to adapt a modern NFL offense.

GM Brandon Beane and company have re-shaped the new-look group around 2022 2nd round NFL Draft pick and RB1 James Cook, and 26-year-old Ty Johnson showed the Bills brass and coaches enough last season to earn an opportunity to compete for playing time behind him.

The 26-year-old inked a new one-year deal in March to return to Buffalo. It’s a team-friendly low-risk-high-potential reward pact with a player looking to take the next step in his development at the pro level and to earn his next contract. Suffice it to say, he’ll be motivated.

“It feels really great,” he told The Buffalo News last month. “(This time) last year, I was rehabbing a torn (pectoral muscle) and didn’t really know what my future was. Now, it’s a great privilege to be back.”

Johnson was a 2019 sixth-round NFL Draft pick by the Lions, who later released him in October 2020, after which he spent several seasons with the Jets in New Jersey before being sidelined with a pectoral injury that led to his release. He then signed with the Bills practice squad last August.

In the past, the Buffalo relied on the ground game from backs like Devin Singletary and Zack Moss, but have since forward and transitioned to versatile receiving backs like Cook and 2024 fourth-rounder Ray Davis.

The club parted ways with Nyheim Hines, Damien Harris, and Latavias Murray after the conclusion of the 2023 season. Each player was on a short-term deal and dealt with injuries. Johnson was the only member of that group brought back, and the team also added undrafted free agent Frank Gore Jr.
“Having the opportunity to come back, I do feel like my confidence is there,” he added. “To be honest, I was just happy to be out there,” he added. “I was confident in the playbook and knowing what my assignments were.”

Now that he’s healthy and has a year of experience in the Bills offense to build on, his next focus is to continue to stay healthy and expand his overall football abilities.

“The work is the work,” he noted. “I have to keep putting that in and taking care of my body and learning more and being able to do more things on the field.”