Late Sunday night, the Las Vegas Raiders reportedly acquired former All-Pro corner Taron Johnson and a 7th round selection from the Buffalo Bills for a 6th round selection. It’s unknown if the Raiders gave up the 180th or 183rd selection in the 6th round, while the Bills hold both the 220nd and 228th selections in the 7th round (Las Vegas currently selects 219th in the 7th round). The 5’11, 192-pound 29 year old Johnson will turn 30 in July, and the former 4th rounder from Weber State has consistently been one of the NFL’s better slot defenders.
Johnson has missed nine games the last two seasons but played north of 1000 snaps each season from 2020-2023 where he added 31 breakups and three interceptions with another six breakups, interception, and touchdown in the playoffs. Johnson has a career 57 breakups, six interceptions, and 572 tackles with 23 TFL, 8 sacks, and a missed tackle rate of 9.7%. Originally set to be released, Johnson will hold an 8.6 million cap hit in 2026 for the Raiders, and a 2027 cap hit of 10 million however he holds 0 dead money in 2026 or 2027. The soon-to-be thirty year old is coming off a down season in 2025, where Buffalo shifted him away from a true nickel role and more into a nickel linebacker role where he did get beat at times to the outside.
He allowed a 94.5 QBR with five breakups, while also allowing 42 receptions, 398 yards, and two touchdowns on 61 targets. Since the start of his career, in 2018, Johnson has allowed a QBR over 100 just once in 2022 where he allowed seven touchdowns. Additionally, he’s allowed a career QBR of 89.4 while ranking as a top eight slot defender each season from 2020-2024 and ranked 11th in 2025. Johnson holds limited money in 2026, and with no guaranteed money in 2027 the Raiders are banking on him bouncing back to form for the 2026 season and if he doesn’t then they’ll likely move off him in a year. In the meantime, the rebuilding Raiders are banking on a highly experienced cornerback with a career 5742 snaps to help their secondary and anchor the slot in the short time. Johnson remains a top run defender in the slot as well leading all NFL corners in terms of stops and he hasn’t posted a missed tackle rate above 8.5% since 2019. Johnson also adds a ton as a locker room presence which is necessary for Las Vegas.
