Skip to main content

Bills Deal DE Darryl Johnson to Panthers

They begin to solve their glut of players at that position with the move.
  • Author:
  • Publish date:

To nobody's surprise, the Buffalo Bills traded away one of their many talented defensive ends on Monday, sending Darryl Johnson to the Carolina Panthers for a sixth-round pick in next year's NFL Draft.

The move comes on the heels of general manager Brandon Beane's comments two days earlier about receiving phone calls on the availability of some of their defensive ends.

A seventh-round pick of the Bills in 2019, Johnson had compiled 2.0 sacks and 29 tackles over his first two seasons in a part-time role, but was a special-teams standout.

He became expendable after the Bills signed Efe Obada, ironically let go by the Panthers, then used their first two picks of this year's draft on Gregory Rousseau and Boogie Basham, respectively.

All three of the newcomers have produced in training camp and the preseason, with Rousseau being perhaps the biggest surprise after opting out of 2020, his final year at the University of Miami.

Rousseau's 33% quarterback pressure percentage was tops among all NFL players this preseason, according to Pro Football Focus.

The Bills also began the difficult process of trimming their roster to 53 players by the Tuesday afternoon deadline when they released running back Kerrith Whyte, wide receiver Brandon Powell and cornerback Tim Harris.

Teams must get to 53 players by Tuesday at 4 p.m., then can begin construction of practice squads of up to 16 players the next day.

Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.