The Buffalo Bills have spent the offseason reshaping their secondary, and Anthony Kendall fits the profile of a player brought in to add bodies and compete for a fleeting preseason opportunity. With defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard expected to lean more man/match-heavy than Sean McDermott’s zone-based approach, Buffalo has needed fresh cornerback options to match the new look.
Kendall is one of nine cornerbacks currently on the roster, though that number comes with a few caveats. Kani Walker and Maxwell Hairston are dealing with injuries, while Christian Benford, Dee Alford, Davison Igbinosun, Toriano Pride Jr., Jordan Dunbar, and D.J.
Miller are healthy. Te’Cory Couch is listed at defensive back but plays corner, and Jordan Hancock is listed there too as a hybrid safety/slot corner.
For Kendall, the assignment is straightforward: get on the field, stay healthy, and make enough noise to justify another look. He signed with Buffalo on 8/12/2026 and is set to take part in the team’s preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers on August 15. Beyond that, the path gets steep fast.
His one-year deal is worth $1.075 million, the league minimum for a player with his service time, and that’s also his cap hit if he makes the 53-man roster. Buffalo can move on from him at any time without any dead cap charge.
The Bills are already carrying corners who look more likely to stick, which makes Kendall’s margin for error thin. The more realistic outcome, at least on paper, is that he’s released shortly after Saturday’s preseason game. A strong showing could keep him in the conversation for the practice squad, but once Buffalo gets healthier, the roster math gets even tougher.
Kendall hasn’t played in an NFL game since his rookie season in 2023, when he was used almost entirely on special teams with the Tennessee Titans. He was on the field for 75% of their special teams snaps, made nine special teams tackles, and logged just three defensive snaps. He also hasn’t appeared in an exhibition game since the 2024 offseason, which gives this preseason window extra weight.
His recent history is just as stark. Kendall spent the 2025 offseason with the Cleveland Browns after signing with them in February, but he never got into a preseason game.
He was waived on August 5 with an injury designation because of a shoulder injury, and that ended up costing him the entire 2025 season. He stayed a free agent after Cleveland let him go.
Still, there’s a reason he’s hanging around. Kendall’s college testing numbers were strong, especially in the explosiveness categories.
He ran a 4.53-second forty-yard dash, posted 4.44 seconds in the 20-yard shuttle and 7.02 seconds in the three-cone drill, and added a 39.5-inch vertical, a 10-foot-9 broad jump, and 19 bench reps at 225 pounds. His Relative Athletic Score was 8.31.
That athletic profile gives him a shot to surprise in preseason action, even if the odds are long. Kendall, a Baldwin-Wallace product, entered the league as a former Division III player and has already carved out a path that’s taken him through multiple camps and back onto an NFL roster. For Buffalo, though, this looks like a short-term test rather than a long-term fit.
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