The Buffalo Bills’ defense looks different this year, and one of the quieter changes might end up mattering more than most people realize. With a new scheme under defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, Buffalo has spent the offseason reshaping the unit, bringing in fresh faces through free agency and the draft over the last two years while moving on from players who no longer fit the plan.
That includes Taron Johnson, the fan favorite who had been the Bills’ starting nickel corner for a long stretch and one of the team’s most reliable defenders. Buffalo traded Johnson to the Las Vegas Raiders, setting up a Week 6 meeting in Vegas that will give him a chance to face his old team. It will also put the spotlight on the player expected to step into his role: Dee Alford.
Alford signed a three-year deal with the Bills after coming over from the Atlanta Falcons, and he arrives with a résumé that already has some Bills relevance. Last season, he had one of his better games against Buffalo in Week 6, finishing with 6 total tackles, a sack, and an interception of Josh Allen. Now he gets the same opponent from the other sideline, only this time in Buffalo colors.
ESPN’s Ben Solak picked up on Alford during his visit to St. John Fisher University and said people inside the building were already talking him up.
" One defensive player was highlighted for me by multiple people in the building: Dee Alford, the nickel corner signed to replace Taron Johnson. Alford worked his way up through the CFL and onto the Falcons roster in 2022, where he won the slot job before Billy Bowman Jr. was drafted to replace him in 2025. The Bills didn't make many defensive additions in the transition from McDermott to Leohnard on defense, but Alford's three-year deal was a priority for a defense that needs sticky man coverage ability in the slot." said Solak.
Buffalo did make other defensive moves, including adding OLB Bradley Chubb, who should help steady the pass rush. But Alford’s fit may be one of the more important pieces of the puzzle because his game gives the Bills the kind of slot coverage they need. Johnson was more of a zone corner, while Alford is built to stay attached to his man inside.
And with Leonhard’s background as a secondary defender, that part of the roster figures to be under a microscope. Alford may not be the signing everyone is talking about, but he has a real chance to become one of the Bills’ most useful additions from this offseason.
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