The Buffalo Bills 2025 season showcased a number of personnel issues on the Bills roster. With most of free agency and the NFL Draft now behind us, the 2026 Bills 90-man roster is just about finalized for training camp. One of the biggest question marks following the Bills' divisional round exit against the Denver Broncos was the safety position. The team has been busy, but who makes the cut?
Name | Height | Weight |
|---|---|---|
Cole Bishop | 6-2 | 206 |
C.J. Gardner-Johnson | 5-11 | 208 |
Geno Stone | 5-11 | 207 |
Damar Hamlin | 6-0 | 200 |
Jalon Kilgore | 6-1 | 210 |
Jordan Hancock | 6-0 | 195 |
Sam Franklin Jr. | 6-3 | 210 |
Wande Owens | 5-11 | 205 |
The Bills carried four true safeties into the 2025 season, and should follow a similar blueprint for 2026. There's room for more, but safety depth overlaps with cornerbacks, and lines get blurred. The Bills likely keep four true safeties, and training camp begins with them at the top of the depth chart.
Cole Bishop
The single most secure job on the Bills defense this season belongs to Cole Bishop. He was a bright spot last season and has little true competition to push for his starting job. It would be nonsense to go in another direction.
Bishop has excelled; The Bills mission this offseason was to find him a full-time partner. Jordan Poyer spent 2025 as the best they could do, and this year has to be better. Bishop brings an electric and forceful imposition to the short game, with a penchant for hitting hard and breaking up plays. Expect more of the same as he starts training camp in the top spot.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson
The Buffalo Bills wasted no time trying to find the right man to defend the deep third of the field. Early in free agency, the Bills signed C.J. Gardner-Johnson to a one-year deal. The veteran has elevated every secondary he's played in, and Buffalo will be no different.
Darius Slay isn't the only impactful Bills DB to have they best days with the Eagles. CJGJ won two conference championships with Philadelphia, and was a critical starter in their 2024 Super Bowl-winning season.
He bounced around the NFL in 2025, but by year's-end showcased his enormous capacity for elite play. If Gardner-Johnson attacks the Bills training camp like he attacked every other season of his career, his starting spot will be all but guaranteed.
Jalon Kilgore
If Cole Bishop wasn't on the roster, the Bills home run pick of Jalon Kilgore would have cemented him as an eventual starter. Instead, the fifth-round pick has the time to showcase his work without needed to start in year one. As a plausible starter in 2027, Kilgore has one season to pick up everything he needs to know - It starts in his first training camp.
The rookie played many roles at South Carolina, and his measurables make him a desirable athlete. The depth of skill makes him a roster lock even if no role appears right away.
Among the first Bills draft picks to put pen to paper, Kilgore is rearing to go. If his impact in training camp is as notable as his college career, he'll be no worse than the Bills' top backup. Expect the former captain to make his mark as a rookie.
Jordan Hancock
The fourth and final safety spot is the only true question mark in the room. Fortunately for the Bills, they have a clear-and-away favourite to take it. Jordan Hancock stepped up in his rookie season. He gave the Bills valuable play numerous spots in an injury-riddled secondary.
As Brandon Beane made clear during the draft, secondary depth is a critical place on this roster- Hancock offers them the skillset and variety they may need to rely on.
Cut: Geno Stone, Damar Hamlin, Sam Franklin Jr, Wande Owens
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