Bills $76 million defensive star among most underrated cornerbacks

The Buffalo Bills have one of the most underrated cornerbacks in the NFL.

Buffalo Bills cornerback Christian Benford enters the field before a game against the New York Jets at Highmark Stadium. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

The Buffalo Bills are getting ready for the upcoming season, where they hope things work out similarly to the way they did last year, for the most part.

Though the Bills didn't make the Super Bowl like they hoped, the team opted to bring back a good chunk of its players that helped make things successful last season.

Among those players is cornerback Christian Benford, who signed a four-year, $76 million contract extension with the Bills this offseason. ESPN analyst Aaron Schatz was likely a fan of the move, naming Benford as the league's most underrated cornerback.

Bills cornerback Christian Benford gets an arm around Titans quarterback Mason Rudolph to sack him. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"One of the tough parts of trying to identify an underrated cornerback is that the position's metrics are very inconsistent from season to season. But Benford is coming off two very strong seasons in a row, which doesn't seem like a fluke," Schatz wrote.

"You might not have noticed Benford's 2024 impact because he had only two interceptions. But overall coverage success is based on a much larger sample of numbers than just INTs.

"In 2023, Benford ranked 18th in my coverage DVOA metric among qualified corners. Last season, he climbed up to fourth overall. He was targeted on 10.1% of passes when he was on the field, one of the lowest figures in the league, and he allowed just 6.1 yards per target."

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Now that Benford is making the big bucks, it will be harder for him to maintain this value. That being said, the Bills are confident in his abilities and believe he can remain one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL, which would justify the massive raise he got this offseason.

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua catches the ball against Buffalo Bills cornerback Christian Benford. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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