The Las Vegas Raiders traded a 6th rounder in the 2026 NFL draft to the Buffalo Bills for former top nickel cornerback Taron Johnson & a 7th rounder. Johnson was originally slated to be released by the Bills, but Las Vegas swooped in to acquire him. The veteran cornerback has 2 years, 18.6 million remaining on his contract, that runs in 2026 & 2027. Johnson, who turned 30 earlier this year, only has 1.17 million of guaranteed money remaining on his 18.6 million contract. As a result of the extremely
low guaranteed salary, Johnson has been holding out of OTA’s and voluntary workouts for the Raiders, which as a result has created some scenarios for Las Vegas when it comes to their nickel position, which is a key area on the defense for DC Rob Leonard.
Johnson is coming off two down seasons, though he’s remained as a quality nickel defender with good run defense skills, strong coverage in the intermediate zones, and his biggest concerns have come with diminishing ball skills & lack of long speed. Johnson was once viewed as the best nickel cornerback in the NFL, and the veteran is looking for a bounce-back season. The Raiders have struggled to find consistent talent in their nickel position since letting Nate Hobbs walk roughly two seasons ago, and Hobbs has since landed with the 49ers after being released by Green Bay. In that time, Las Vegas has utilized Darnay Holmes, Greedy Vance, Jeremy Chinn, and others as a nickel cornerback role, and none have been close to the level that Taron Johnson would provide for Las Vegas in 2026. While I highly doubt that Johnson never plays a snap for Las Vegas, given the time and the Raiders seemingly lack of rush to add extra guaranteed money to Johnson’s deal, the Raiders will be no doubt exploring other options in their nickel position. Should they decide to release Johnson, Las Vegas will save 6.3 million in cap space for 2026 & 10 million in 2027. As a veteran cornerback, who has no contract safety in 2027, it’s not a hard reason to see why Johnson is looking for more money.
Taron Johnson
The clear cut option, Johnson needs to have the guaranteed money and contract situation resolved, but assuming he does he’ll start in the slot and this entire post may be for not. He’s in need of a bounce-back season, but a shift to the Raiders secondary which relies heavily on zone with a good trigger, run defense, and highly aggressive nature could do him a wonder.
Treydan Stukes
Stukes, the Raiders 2nd round pick in 2026, has seen a large part of his career in the nickel position, though Las Vegas drafted him with the intention to move Stukes back to a free safety position where he’s naturally a good fit. Stukes has good range, high end IQ, and exceptional ball skills which paired in the open field allow for him to be a potential high end safety down the line that can log 5+ interceptions in multiple seasons. Stukes has played over 1000 snaps in the nickel, and he does have an exceptional ability to play in the slot, with his ball skills, range, and IQ working in short area bursts well. Stukes is physical, he has a good frame, and he’s a sound tackler which helps him be a confident player for the Raiders to rely on should it come to that. Ideally, Stukes can play in a free safety role, though if he slides into the slot as he’s been doing during OTA’s, then expect Dalton Johnson to possibly slide into the free safety role
Jeremy Chinn
Chinn is ideally going to work as a nickel defender, not a nickel cornerback, this season. However, Chinn does have an ability to play as a full time nickel cornerback, with exceptional short area quickness, good long speed, and high end physicality that helps him play more towards the line of scrimmage as is. Chinn has a good frame, at 6’3/225 and he’s shown good ball skills through his NFL career. Chinn is an extremely sound tackler, he diagnoses the run well, fires downhill, and can play in open space at a good level. While he’s ideally going to be an option for Las Vegas to slide into a rover strong safety & overhand/flat defender who can match on TE & big slots, there’s a world that Chinn does need to play as a fulltime nickel cornerback, something he hasn’t done since 2022 in Carolina. Chinn’s a viable option to take the nickel role, should Las Vegas go different directions over Taron Johnson.
Dalton Johnson
I wrote about Dalton Johnson being a possible option in the slot for the Raiders, in my bold breakout player. Johnson has spent time in his career through the slot, nickel defender, free safety, and strong safety after working his way up from walk-on to starter for Arizona, and then 5th rounder in 2026. Johnson isn’t an elite athlete, but he’s very fluid in his lower body moment, shows good ball skills, and is aggressive. He’ll need to clean up the tackling, and I’d like to see Johnson do better in certain situations near the LOS where he can get washed out, or he can struggle to maintain leverage throughout the rep at times. As a 5th rounder, ideally Johnson can work at free safety should Treydan Stukes need to get into the nickel, or Johnson can play as a gadget defensive back allowing Las Vegas to stay aggressive, versatile, and very matchup dependent.
Greedy Vance
While not the likely option, Vance did see playtime in the nickel last season, and he played about as well, if not better, than you could expect for an undersized UDFA. Vance didn’t see 100 snaps, but he logged a PBU, showed quality run defending snaps, and did do well keeping in the hip of the receiver. While I fully don’t expect Vance to play in the slot for the Raiders this season, things could shake out to where he does end up starting for the Raiders, or getting a chance to compete for the role should Las Vegas want to keep Dalton Johnson, Stukes, & Chinn in their current prospective roles while figuring out the nickel cornerback position. Vance showed flashes last year, but he needs to develop, and a year on the practice squad could do him well.
Others?
There’s not a ton of other options for Las Vegas in this situation, UDFA Devyn Perkins is the top option to come out of no where and push for the Raiders NCB position if Johnson is gone, though I don’t expect that over who’s above him. The 5’9, 185-pounder has good return skills, is an athlete, has fluid hips, good ball skills, and shows an aggressive nature. Perkins adaption from Southern Utah to the NFL is a massive jump, and Perkins needs to do better at adding mass, preventing his frame from limiting him as a run defender, and he’d need to show out on special teams. Rookie cornerbacks Jermod McCoy & Hezekiah Masses have no experience playing the slot, and I highly doubt that comes in year one, especially with McCoy’s injury track and Masses needing to likely be a high option off the bench in the Raiders DB rotation. Additionally, Darien Porter & Eric Stokes aren’t true nickel defenders, and only Stokes has any experience in the slot.
The Raiders could look to move Isaiah Pola-Mao down to the nickel, a role he did play in his time at USC. Pola-Mao heavily struggled during his time in the NFL at the free safety role, and Las Vegas is going to move him to an overhang strong safety, big nickel, and/or strong safety role. The Raiders are likely relying on Pola-Mao to have more versatility in the secondary, and moving him into a strict nickel cornerback role likely isn’t best given his lack of strength at the POA & weakness in the open field as a tackler.
Outside Building
Should everything fall apart for Las Vegas, then it becomes clear on what the path for Las Vegas is. If the Raiders, and Rob Leonard, want to maintain their versatility in the secondary while making sure rookies Dalton Johnson & Treydan Stukes develop into their natural longterm roles, then a veteran could be the Raiders possible option. The top standout comes with former Colts CB Kenny Moore II, who has consistently been viewed as a top 3-5 NCB in the NFL. Moore is coming off a strong 2025 season in 715 snaps, allowing 540 yards on a 65% reception rate, just one touchdown, and a 89.2 QBR. Since entering the NFL in 2017, he’s allowed a 90+ QBR in just 3 seasons, has 22 career interceptions, and 55 career PBU. Moore is likely waiting till near training camp, and the 32 year old could call it quits, or go to a contender, but he’d make sense for Las Vegas. Former Raiders S Thomas Harper may be on his way out in Detroit, as the teams 5th possible safety, and he’d make sense to reunite with the Raiders. Harper logged 450+ snaps for the Lions in 2025 after 200 in 2024 with Las Vegas. Harper has been a strong coverage safety, has NCB & FS versatility, and would allow Las Vegas to work Stukes in the slot, or keep him at FS and slide Harper back into the NCB role he played in college and in 2024. The third option could be former Jets NCB Isaiah Oliver, who’s coming off a 2025 season where he allowed an 87% reception rate, 222 yards, 0 TD, 5 PBU, and a 109 QBR. Oliver has experience at nickel defender, slot cornerback, and the boundary, which gives the Raiders versatility if needed. Another name to watch would be Dolphins DB Ifeatu Melifonwu, who’s worked between FS & NCB in his career and shockingly is still available after a strong 2025 season. Other options include XFL standouts in the secondary, but ideally Las Vegas can stay in house.
