E.J. Gaines
For most of the offseason, the talk around the starting cornerback job opposite Tre’Davious White has been between Levi Wallace, who was the starter last year, and free agent addition Josh Norman. However, the team also added E.J. Gaines in free agency and he could end up being the best of this group.
The biggest issue for Gaines has been staying healthy as he has dealt with his fair share of injuries, playing in 11 or fewer games each of the past four seasons. He missed the entire year last year after an injury in training camp with the Buffalo Bills.
The reason E.J. Gaines could end up winning the job is because he had a great year with the Buffalo Bills in 2017 as their starting cornerback, opposite then rookie Tre’Davious White. He finished that year with 59 total tackles, one interception and nine passes defended.
It remains to be seen that Josh Norman can play near a level he did with the Panthers in 2015 but expect E.J. Gaines to be the player that pushed Levi Wallace for that starting job.