The Buffalo Bills had a devastating rushing offense last season. Their top dog led the entire league in rushing yardage, becoming the first Bills player to earn that honor since NFL Hall of Fame running back O.J. Simpson did it during the 1976 season.
The players who served as backups last season weren’t slouches, either. With all of Buffalo’s top running backs returning this season, there’s a natural inclination to run it back with the same group. Do the financials make sense — and should that matter
in making the decision?
In today’s edition of “91 players in 91 days,” we discuss a running back whose role might seem small, but whose absence during the postseason was definitely felt.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Name: Ty Johnson
Number: 26
Position: RB
Height/Weight: 5’10”, 210 pounds
Age: 28 (29 on 9/17/2026)
Experience/Draft: 8; selected by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round (No. 186 overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft
College: Maryland
Acquired: Signed with Buffalo on 8/21/2023
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Johnson enters the final year of the two-year deal he signed prior to last season. For the 2026 NFL season, Johnson’s cap hit is $3.275 million. Buffalo can release Johnson prior to Week 1 and carry a dead-cap hit of just $820,000. As a vested veteran, his base salary ($2.22 million) becomes fully guaranteed if he’s on Buffalo’s roster for Week 1, however.
2025 Recap: Johnson had basically the same role in Buffalo’s offense during the 2025 season as he did during the 2024 season. He did see a slight uptick in playing time, as he increased his offensive snap count from 316 snaps to 335 and his touch total from 59 touches in 2024 to 74 touches in 2025. Johnson carried 50 times for 200 yards and three touchdowns last season, adding 24 catches for 263 yards and two more receiving scores on 33 targets.
He appeared in all 17 regular season games for the second straight season, but a high ankle sprain suffered during the regular-season finale made it so that he missed both of Buffalo’s postseason games. Johnson also did some work on special teams for the Bills, totaling two tackles and returning 11 kickoffs for 240 yards (21.8 yards per return).
Positional outlook: Johnson is one of five running backs on the current roster. James Cook III, Frank Gore Jr., Ray Davis, and Ian Wheeler are the others.
2026 Offseason: Johnson is fully healthy, having participated all offseason, and he’s ready to go for the start of training camp.
2026 Season outlook: Buffalo has to decide a few things as it relates to Johnson this season. First, what is his role in the offense. Second, is that role worth a top-20 cap hit on the club? While Johnson was angling towards being the primary kickoff return man, he was surpassed by Ray Davis last season in that role.
Davis is also a very good backup running back, and James Cook proved that he could be a workhorse by leading the entire NFL in rushing yardage. Is there room for Johnson on the roster, or should the Bills go with a younger, less expensive player in his place?
There is definitely room for Ty Johnson on the current Buffalo roster, and it’s hard to say that he isn’t head-and-shoulders better than at least Gore Jr. Perhaps Wheeler will come in and show explosiveness and ability in the passing game to make his case for Johnson’s role, but given the success that No. 26 has had in that role over the last two-plus seasons, it’s hard to see anyone on the current roster pushing him off of it.
Even if we’re looking at finances only, Johnson’s cap hit doesn’t make me shy away from keeping him. If they release him, the team would have to eat that $820,000 dead-cap charge and keep one of Gore Jr. or Wheeler, whose cap hits are $885,000. Is it worth saving $1.5 million to downgrade a spot on the team that will see guaranteed use? Unless that $1.5 million is going to go to use this year at another position of need, I don’t know how I feel about it.
Johnson’s cap hit has him at RB35, which is probably a little rich for his actual output. However, he’s a solid contributor in multiple phases of the game. He’s likely going to be on the team, and he’ll likely see plenty of run on third downs and in spelling Cook this season.
