The Buffalo Bills thought they had a deal done with running back J.D. McKissic in free agency, but he wound up returning to the Washington Commanders. Now, the Bills have found a replacement for McKissic, bringing in veteran running back Duke Johnson on a one-year contract, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Johnson has spent seven seasons in the NFL, most recently appearing in just five games for the Miami Dolphins in 2021. He started his career with the Cleveland Browns after getting drafted in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft. The running back spent four seasons with the Browns and then two with the Houston Texans before his brief stay in Miami.
Like McKissic, Johnson is known more for his receiving ability out of the backfield than his rushing. He racked up more receiving yards than rushing yards in all four seasons in Cleveland and then one out of two seasons with Houston, with the other season resulting in him picking up 410 rushing and receiving yards. The 28-year-old caught a career-high 74 passes for 693 yards in 2017.
While the Dolphins didn't take advantage of Johnson's receiving ability, the assumption is the Bills will try to do so given they picked him after the McKissic deal fell apart. While Johnson is starting to get a bit long in the tooth, he could wind up being a nice weapon for Josh Allen.
Buffalo still has Devin Singletary and Zack Moss as other running back options. Furthermore, the Bills just signed Matt Barkley to fill out their quarterback room with Allen and Case Keenum.
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