The third time is evidently not the charm for the Buffalo Bills and cornerback EJ Gaines.
The Bills waived Gaines on Friday per the NFL’s transactions wire. Last offseason the Bills signed the 28-year-old to a one-year contract. However, Gaines opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19.
Gaines first joined the Bills in 2017 via trade, coming to Buffalo in the deal that sent Sammy Watkins to the Rams. Gaines had a successful season that year, notching 59 tackles, nine passes defended and an interception. After leaving, Gaines returned to the Bills in 2019 but was released with an injury settlement in August because of a core muscle issue.
Due to his opt out, Gaines never got a chance to compete for time in Buffalo’s secondary last season and it appears he won’t get a chance in 2021, either.
Releasing Gaines will save the Bills $850,000 against the salary cap, according to Spotrac. He had a minimal $25,000 dead cap hit. It’s unclear where the Bills currently sit at in terms of the 2021 salary cap because the NFL has yet to announce what that will be set at.
COVID-19 keeping fans out of stadium is expected to cause a drop to the salary cap next season. It was once expected to be somewhere around $210 million in 2021, but now the NFL set the cap “floor” at $175M. The final number will likely be decided upon following the upcoming Super Bowl.
Buffalo Bills, NFL players now have their deadline for opting out of playing in 2020.
So far, the Buffalo Bills have had two players opt out of playing in the 2020 regular season due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Those guys are defensive tackle Star Lotulelei and cornerback EJ Gaines.
While that pair have made up their minds, guys who still haven’t now have a deadline. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Bills players and the rest on their peers across the NFL have until Thursday at 4 p.m. to opt out of next season.
So far a total of 44 players in the league have opted out of playing in 2020. If a player decides to do so, such as Lotuleli and Gaines, their contract simply pushes back a year. Of those 44, the most have come from one AFC East team, the Patriots. New England has had eight players opt out so far, including safety Patrick Chung, linebacker Dont’a Hightower, wide receiver Marquise Lee and offensive lineman Marcus Cannon. All four are players who could have made significant impacts on the Pats’ upcoming season.
Along with Lotulelei and Gaines’ decision, the Bills have also had a total of five players added to the Reserve/ COVID-19 list. This designation is for players who have had either positive tests for coronavirus or have come into contact with someone who has. After multiple negative tests for COVID-19 and a period of quarantine, players are eventually allowed to return to team faculties for training camp. Most camps began last week with simple testing measures for the virus.
The five players on the Bills put on the Reserve/ COVID-19 list are CB Ike Brown, CB Siran Neal, CB Dane Jackson, DT Vincent Taylor and WR Duke Williams.
Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane’s start of training camp press conference 2020.
Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane kicked off the team’s very different 2020 training camp on Sunday, as both had press conferences via video with members of the media.
Due to COVID-19, the team’s training camp is going to be much different all around this year. Both touched on that aspect of camp as well as a slew of other Bills-related topics.
With that, here are eight takeaways from Beane’s presser:
E.J. Gaines #28 of the Buffalo Bills. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Another opt out
To start his first report from training camp, Beane announced that the Bills have another player opting out of the 2020 season. This time it’s cornerback EJ Gaines.
Gaines is on his second stint with the Bills and was battling for a depth position. He could’ve played both inside and outside cornerback for Buffalo. Gaines was also an outside candidate in the No. 2 cornerback battle, but now that’s just going to be between Josh Norman and Levi Wallace.
According to Beane, some “family things” played a part in Gaines’ decision to opt out. Last week, defensive tackle Star Lotulelei was the first Bills player to opt out of 2020. We could still see more in the coming days as well, but currently it sounded as if Beane isn’t expecting more at this time.
With Gaines opting out, Beane also confirmed the Bills are at 80 players on their roster at the current moment. Of those 80, the GM said each one has reported to training camp’s start.
Buffalo Bills sign two players to replace COVID-19 opt outs.
The Bills announced on Sunday that the club has signed free agent cornerback Akeem King and defensive tackle Niles Scott.
This pair of moves comes in two positions that are not very surprising at this time. Buffalo lost the services of both cornerback EJ Gaines and Star Lotulelei within the past few days. Both opted out of playing in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both of the new signings are expected to battle for depth spots.
King spent the last two seasons with the Seahawks, playing a chunk of special teams time there. Buffalo special teams coordinator Heath Farwell previously played with the Seahawks before joining the Bills and prior to his coaching career.
King was a seventh-round pick of the Falcons in 2015.
Scott was an undrafted rookie in 2017, and was active in six games with the Bengals in 2018. He has only played in one special teams snap is his career, but has seen 46 on defense, recording four tackles on them.
Buffalo Bills cornerback EJ Gaines will not play in 2020.
The Buffalo Bills have their second player that has opted out of the 2020 NFL season. General manager Brandon Beane announced on Sunday during a press conference that cornerback EJ Gaines will not be playing for the team as he has opted out.
Gaines joins defensive tackle Star Lotulelei as players on the Bills that have opted out of playing due to COVID-19 related concerns. Lotulelei opted out last week.
Gaines was on his second stint with the Bills entering 2020. He was first traded to the Bills by the Rams in 2017, but left via free agency for the Browns following the season after a productive year in Buffalo. However, Gaines continued to have trouble staying healthy.
Gaines, 28, first re-signed with the Bills in 2019 but was injured last offseason and did not play for the team. He was re-signed again in March.
In both cases, Gaines and Lotulelei, their contracts will now be pushed back a year. Both will be eligible to return to the Bills in 2021.
The Buffalo Bills are a few short weeks away from arriving for training camp in Western New York. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the preseason festivities will be diminished; the team will not hold their sessions at St. John Fisher College, their training camp location since 2000.
Nevertheless, the aim of the training camp remains the same. The organization must prepare players for the preseason, which depth players will compete in their final battle for a roster spot.
Training camp could hold greater importance this year, as the trimmed down preseason slate leaves fewer opportunities for players to impress the coaching staff.
The Bills Wire will complete a position-by-position analysis of each group on the Bills roster. This edition will focus on the cornerback position:
Players (age)
Tre’Davious White (25: 4th season)
Josh Norman (32: 9th season)
Levi Wallace (25: 3rd season)
EJ Gaines (28: 6th season)
Cam Lewis (23: 2nd season)
Taron Johnson (23: 3rd season)
Dane Jackson (23: Rookie)
Ike Brown (22: Rookie)
Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White. (AP Photo/Rich Barnes)
2019 recap
Tre’Davious White was the story last year. He tied for the league lead with six interceptions. He earned All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors. White’s stats include 58 total tackles, 17 passes defended, and even a sack on the 2019 ledger. Pro Football Focus gave White the fourth-best coverage grade in the league last year, even as the third-year pro habitually was manned up against the opponent’s best wideout. To top it off: he didn’t allow a touchdown his was during the regular season.
Levi Wallace started 16 games opposite White. Wallace totaled 76 tackles and two interceptions. He’s been consistent for the Bills, often an unheralded and underappreciated piece of Buffalo’s defense. Kevin Johnson played as the team’s primary reserve cornerback. However, he was called upon to start the Wild Card matchup against Houston, recording nine tackles in the playoff game because of an injury Wallace suffered in Week 17.
Taron Johnson worked out of the slot for the Bills. He piled up 50 tackles and one sack last year. Siran Neal, primarily a safety, matched up against opponents playing in the team’s “big nickel” packages.
Now here’s a rundown of storylines to follow in this position group:
Can Tre’Davious White keep up his exceptional play?
White is the Bills’ unquestioned No. 1 shutdown cornerback. He took on difficult assignments in stride in 2019. The league finally recognized his contributions.
White is looking at a massive pay day if he keeps up this pace. The Bills already picked up White’s fifth-year option, so the first draft pick of the Sean McDermott era will be around for at least two more years. This gives Buffalo some time to work out a long-term agreement with White.
The challenge for White will be for him to erase the memory of the Wild Card game. The Texans moved wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins out of the slot in the second half, and he put immense pressure on White. Hopkins is exceptional, but for White to continue to be mentioned among the league’s best, he’ll have to shut down the best of the best out wide.
Bleacher Report names Levi Wallace as the Buffalo Bills’ “sleeper player” in 2020.
The Bills defense will have a new No.2 cornerback in 2020, Josh Norman.
Or will they?
Norman will have to wrestle that job away from incumbent Levi Wallace, who’s started across from lockdown corner Tre’Davious White for parts of the past two seasons. But because some are assuming that the Bills will hand the keys over to Norman, Bleacher Report decided to pump some brakes.
B/R named a sleeper player for each NFL team heading into training camp. Wallace was Buffalo’s pick.
Here’s why:
Buffalo Bills cornerback Levi Wallace was a 16-game starter last year, but he qualifies for this list because he’s not widely expected to keep that job with veteran Josh Norman joining star Tre’Davious White atop the cornerback depth chart.
Norman is obviously much more accomplished than Wallace, but watch for the undrafted 25-year-old to wrestle back his outside starting gig from the 2015 All-Pro. He has just two career interceptions, but in his first full season as a starter, he surrendered just 6.5 yards per target and a passer rating of 85.5. Meanwhile, the 32-year-old Norman gave up 9.7 yards per target and a 129.0 passer rating with Washington last year.
With vet E.J. Gaines also back in the mix, Wallace—who is coming off shoulder surgery—isn’t getting a lot of attention. And while he’s far from polished and it’s concerning that his playing time decreased as the 2019 season wore on, his impressive coverage and those roster dynamics make him a sleeper.
There’s always training camp battles to watch, but few and fair between will be like the Bills’ No.2 battle with Wallace, Norman and Gaines. All three have had their varying degrees of good play in Sean McDermott’s defense. But there’s some cases to make for Wallace over the pack.
Norman was previously at an All-Pro level in McDermott’s scheme while with the Panthers. But Wallace wasn’t so bad himself just last season. He defended nine passes and notched his first two career interceptions. And while Pro Football Focus isn’t the end all be all, he was the 41st ranked best corner in the entire NFL last year. That’s pretty good for a 32-team league.
Now, does that mean he’ll beat out Norman? Maybe not. But for various reasons, Wallace could, at minimum, make multiple starts next year. At 32, has Norman lost a step? It’s a storyline to pay attention to throughout next season.
In regard to the AFC East, here’s a few sleepers to watch on other rosters in 2020, as decided by B/R:
What cornerback Josh Norman said about signing with the Buffalo Bills.
Cornerback Josh Norman isn’t the same player he once was. With the Panthers, the now 32-year-old earned All-Pro honors. Then with the Redskins, things got tough.
With the Bills, Norman is hoping for a bounce-back year next season. In his effort to find that, re-joining a team led by Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane made tons of sense to the vet cornerback, he recently admitted.
Norman said on the Neil Reynolds Podcast that linking up with a defense and organizational structure that he’s familiar was just what he was looking for.
“I’m extremely excited. Being back with [McDermott and Beane] was a no-brainer for me. It was just like, ‘I don’t know about anyone else.’ We just had to make sure that everything was right contractually. And once that all came down to it it was just like, ‘Alright, you know what, man? I’m gonna go do it.’ Because I’m not gonna sit here and wait. I’m not gonna do all the other stuff. I’m gonna go ahead and get down. These guys, they know me, I know them,” Norman said.
Contractually, it took a one-year, $6 million deal for the Bills to land Norman. It’s nothing long-term, but the price tag was a bit higher than some expected.
Norman will battle incumbent Levi Wallace and returnee EJ Gaines for time at the No. 2 cornerback spot across from All-Pro Tre’Davious White. All three players have prior experience playing in McDermott’s defensive scheme over their careers, so it could be anyone’s position to earn. But Norman, who previously said he’s going to have an “All-World season” with the Bills in 2020, still is remaining confident as well.
“Let’s go make this very simple and plain because when I get here I’m coming and I’m not coming solo. I’m bringing the storm with me,” Norman said. “And we’re going to sit down here and we’re going to roar.”
Bleacher Report on the Buffalo Bills’ biggest needs left.
The Buffalo Bills did plenty of adding to their cornerback position this offseason. But Bleacher Report isn’t optimistic about those moves.
B/R recently released every NFL team’s biggest remaining need with both the draft and the start of free agency well behind us. Cornerback is what the Bills were given.
Here’s why they’re not optimistic:
The Buffalo Bills defense ranked second in points allowed and third overall in 2019. It did not have many weaknesses, though Buffalo did lack a reliable starter opposite All-Pro Tre’Davious White. They added 2015 All-Pro Josh Norman in free agency, but given his recent level of play, Norman might not be the reliable starter Buffalo needs.
Norman fell out of favor with the Washington Redskins last season and was pulled from the starting lineup.
The Bills also didn’t add a cornerback during the draft until Round 7, where they took Pittsburgh’s Dane Jackson. Adding a free-agent corner like Dre Kirkpatrick, Logan Ryan or Aqib Talib would give Buffalo additional depth and an insurance policy for Norman.
Sure, we can say the Bills have a need at cornerback. But this “need” mirrors the “needs” Buffalo had heading into the draft.
After the Bills landed Stefon Diggs via trade with the Vikings, everyone was really hard-pressed to say the Bills had any spot to address on their roster.
There’s reason for concern with Norman. The Bills are hoping a return to Sean McDermott’s defense, one Norman played in before with the Panthers at an All-Pro level, will help him regain his form.
But even if Norman falters, the Bills have learned from prior mistakes. In addition to Norman, Buffalo added EJ Gaines again and re-signed Levi Wallace. That, plus Jackson, gives the Bills a pretty deep group.
But to B/R’s point, none of these guys behind White are likely to be long-term answers. Wallace could be, but based on the additions the Bills made this offseason, the team doesn’t think he’s a future solution next to White, even if he did flash some talents in the past.
With that in mind, adding a veteran free agent cornerback like B/R suggests wouldn’t make much sense. Now, the next year’s draft with a Day 1 or Day 2 pick? That makes complete sense.
What are the Buffalo Bills’ question marks on their roster following the 2020 NFL Draft?
Entering the 2020 NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills didn’t have many, if any, needs to address on their roster.
But there were certainly some underlying things that Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane addressed.
AJ Epenesa brings some youth to their pass-rushing group, while Zack Moss is a perfect complement to Devin Singletary in the backfield. Gabriel Davis and Isaiah Hodgins bring some size to the receiver room. Heck, even Jake Fromm brings some quarterback competition.
But following the draft, there’s still some early things for the Bills to consider keeping an eye on as the offseason churns on. Let’s breakdown exactly what those areas on their roster could be here:
Buffalo Bills cornerback Levi Wallace. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
Cornerback
This one comes from the mouth of Bills general manager Brandon Beane himself. When going over his seven picks at the recent draft, the discussion rounded out with his final pick, Pittsburgh cornerback Dane Jackson. Jackson has potential despite his seventh-round status. Pre-draft, NFL.com labeled him a fifth-round pick and clearly he took a fall from there.
But Beane referred to this pick as a “need.” Typically you’ll see Beane much more often say “best player available.” That simply wasn’t the case here and even with Jackson’s potential fall, he was a seventh rounder. It’s not surprising to see a seventh-round pick not make it out of training camp.
Having said that, another cornerback still could be used by the Bills, or could’ve been. Specifically the Bills require a long-term option at the position, opposite Tre’Davious White. Levi Wallace will still get a chance to prove as exactly that in training camp, but it’s a three-way battle with EJ Gaines and Josh Norman there. Regardless, the Bills have a good shot at being set at cornerback in 2020. Beyond that? Things are bleak behind Tre.
