Brandon Beane vows to explore options for troubled spot on Bills' defense

The Buffalo Bills' general manager is well aware of the team's specific defensive need this offseason.

Jan 26, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Xavier Worthy (1) makes a catch against Buffalo Bills cornerback Kaiir Elam (5) / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Rasul Douglas is a pending free agent, and at this point, one has to wonder if the light will ever come on for 2022 first-round draft pick Kaiir Elam.

It's become increasingly evident that the Buffalo Bills have a serious offseason need at cornerback. Once Buffalo lost top cornerback Christian Benford to a concussion early in the first half of the AFC Championship Game, the Kansas City Chiefs took advantage. Elam gave opposing receivers too much space and piled up too many missed assignments. Xavier Worthy, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Hollywood Brown combined for 180 receiving yards on 11 receptions.

Luckily, Benford is still under contract in 2025, but the Bills will need to identify a player to start opposite of him. Upgrading at backup is also likely on general manager Brandon Beane's to-do list.

"That's one of the positions we'll look at and evaluate, as we talked about, areas on defense that we need to look at. So yes, we'll evaluate that," said Beane. "We got a lot of work to do of where we need to allocate resources, whether it's extending guys, signing a free agent or draft allocation and that is one of the areas we would look at."

Nov 17, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane on the field / Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

In addition to filling the vacant starting spot that Douglas occupied in 2024, the Bills could also choose to address Benford's contract status by working out a long-term extension. The 2022 sixth-round draft pick is entering the final season on his rookie deal and will likely command a substantial pay raise if allowed to hit the open market.

RELATED: Bills must be realistic while deciding on James Cook contract extension

The Bills will almost certainly draft at least one cornerback come April. In 2022, they took a swing on the SEC-seasoned Elam in Round 1 and backed up the move by finding Benford in Round 6. Beane could be up to something similar again in 2025.

Whether or not a cornerback is in the Bills' draft plans, Beane has a lot of work to do at the position that includes extending Benford, filling an open starting spot and finding a reasonably-priced battle-tested backup.

Jan 26, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; Buffalo Bills cornerback Christian Benford (47) is taken off the field for an injury against the Kansas City Chiefs / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

—  Enjoy free coverage of the Bills from Buffalo Bills on SI  —

More Buffalo Bills News:

• Bills' Pro Bowler makes impassioned sales pitch to Myles Garrett

• Former Bills react publicly to head coach Dick Jauron's passing

• NFL MVP Josh Allen's simple on-stage message shows immense gratitude

• Josh Allen's Super Bowl commercial is a must-see

• Ex-NFL QB Dan Orlovsky's two moves that could propel Bills to Super Bowl