Following the 2018 season, the Buffalo Bills’ running back depth behind starter James Cook was mostly depleted, but general manager Brandon Beane is adding one player back into the mix.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, running back Ty Johnson is allegedly re-signing with the Bills after making an impression in his one season in Buffalo. Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic reported that Johnson, who finished the previous season with 194 all-purpose yards and a receiving touchdown, has a one-year contract.
Johnson played in the Bills’ penultimate preseason game against the Chicago Bears, running for 51 yards on 11 carries after arriving in Buffalo late in August of the previous year. After final cuts, he was added to the team’s practice squad even though he wasn’t originally included in the 53-man roster. In late October, Johnson was added to the active roster.
He eventually defeated seasoned running backs Leonard Fournette and Latavius Murray to take James Cook’s spot as the starting running back. In part due to Johnson’s outstanding play during the team’s playoff run, Fournette was let go.
Entering his sixth NFL season, Johnson was previously selected by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round of the 2019 draft. Johnson played with the New York Jets for three seasons in parts after spending one and a half seasons in Detroit, and he signed with the Bills for the 2018–19 season. During a 2023 offseason practice, Johnson tore his pectoral muscle, and the Jets cut him soon after he underwent unnecessary surgery.
Johnson posted on Instagram, saying, “Man, I’ve had some dark, dark days.” traveled to New York. I told them that this was what happened while I was working out, even before the report was released. “You need to get it fixed,” the team doctor told me when I saw him. took off the following day. Return content that I completed the task, despite my reluctance to do so.
Cook and Johnson are the only two returning running backs that saw action for the Bills in the previous campaign and are still with the team. A few months ago, Beane re-signed veteran running back Darrynton Evans to a futures deal. Evans will compete for a spot in the summer training camp.
