Buffalo prioritizes secondary versatility over raw depth, banking on flexible playmakers like Dee Alford to bridge the gap while Brandon Beane keeps a watchful eye on veteran markets.
The Buffalo Bills entered roster cutdown day with plenty of decisions to make, and one of the more notable ones came at cornerback.
Buffalo ultimately kept three players whose primary position is on the boundary, while Dee Alford remains the team's starting nickel. Rather than carrying another true outside corner, the Bills opted to use versatility elsewhere on the roster and trust the flexibility already within their secondary.
Speaking with the media on Tuesday, Brandon Beane explained that the decision wasn't made because the Bills don't value the position.
Quite the opposite.
"Yeah, I mean, it's obviously a valuable position," Beane said. "When you're cutting your roster down, you're having a lot of those discussions."
The Bills had to weigh adding another corner against keeping depth at other positions, and Beane acknowledged that Buffalo would have preferred to keep more than 53 players if it had the option.
"You'd love to keep more than 53 sometimes," Beane said. "And so we do like the guys that we have on the 53, and then we also like, you know, some of the practice squad players."
One factor in the decision was Buffalo's ability to move players around within the secondary. Beane pointed specifically to Alford, who is expected to remain the starting nickel but has experience playing outside.
Beane then highlighted Alford and Jordan Hancock as two players who give the Bills options if injuries force them to adjust the secondary.
"I'm excited about [Maxwell Hairston], [Davison Igbinosun], and Dee Alford," Beane said. "You know, I think he's shown a lot, not only in the games, but the guys that have been in practice have seen what he's played."
Beane's next point is particularly important to understanding the roster construction. Alford isn't simply being viewed as a nickel corner who can only fill one role, especially with someone like Hancock on the roster.
"And that's the great thing about Dee is he is our starting nickel, but, you know, Jordan Hancock's done a nice job," Beane said. "If we feel like we need to move Dee outside for an injury or whatever's going on, we can do that as well."
That flexibility was clearly part of the Bills' calculation. Instead of carrying another player whose primary responsibility would be playing on the boundary, Buffalo can use players capable of filling multiple roles depending on the situation.
"So, again, as we build our roster in different positions, we're trying to have guys like the Hancocks of the world that can play-Cam Lewis did that for us for a number of years-that can play multiple spots," Beane explained. "And that helps you on game day because the 48 is just-we talk about the 48 as much as we talk about the 53-who you can get up, who you can't get up."
Despite being happy with the cornerback room right now, it doesn't mean the Bills are closing the door on adding another veteran cornerback. Beane acknowledged that despite the team having three defensive backs on the practice squad, Buffalo will continue monitoring the market, particularly with veterans still available following roster cuts.
"We'll monitor that each week, but I like where we're at to start," he said.
