Bills Designate Damar Hamlin For Return; Maxwell Hairston Out For Wild-Card Game
Damar Hamlin has missed much of this season, landing on IR in early October. The Bills, though, could have the veteran safety back for their wild-card matchup against the Jaguars.
Buffalo designated Hamlin for return Wednesday, giving him a chance for activation ahead of the Jacksonville trip. Hamlin has been out since Week 5 with a pectoral injury. The Bills also placed Jordan Phillips on IR, per a team announcement. That move will knock the veteran defensive tackle out for the season. Buffalo also signed cornerback Dane Jackson from the practice squad and signed cornerback Daryl Porter Jr. and quarterback Shane Buechele to the P-squad.
Asked to start in place of Micah Hyde for most of the 2022 season, Hamlin suffered a life-threatening injury in a Week 17 game against the Bengals that ended up being cancelled. Hamlin made an inspirational recovery for 2023, though he played sparingly — in a development that strangely cost him the Comeback Player of the Year award. Last year, however, the Bills turned to Hamlin as a full-time starter. This included starts in all three Buffalo playoff games. The Bills then re-signed him on a one-year, $2MM deal.
That money checks in south of the starter tier, and the Bills turned to Cole Bishop to replace him opening this season. Bishop has teamed with the re-signed Jordan Poyer at safety for most of the season. Poyer has missed the past two weeks with a hamstring injury but was a limited participant in Buffalo’s Wednesday practice. The team also has Darnell Savage and Sam Franklin on its roster as insurance. Hamlin would add to that insurance contingent if activated. The Bills are in fine shape for injury activations, holding six entering the wild-card round.
Phillips is out with a foot injury sustained in Week 18. The recurring Bills supporting-caster played in 11 games this season, serving mostly as D-tackle depth during his third Buffalo stint. The Jackson move comes as cornerback Maxwell Hairston has been ruled out for Sunday’s game, per BuffaloBills.com’s Alec White.
Hairston’s injury is a troubling development for the Bills, who have seen cornerback injuries go a long way toward swinging their recent postseason matchups with the Chiefs. Christian Benford missed the 2023 divisional-round game against Kansas City and suffered a concussion on the Ravens’ last-ditch onside-kick attempt to close the 2024 divisional-round matchup with the Ravens. Benford later went out early in last year’s AFC championship game.
Hairston has now suffered an ankle injury late in the fourth quarter of the Bills’ blowout win over the Jets. While Benford is healthy, the Bills will be without their first-round pick after playing much of the season without him.
An LCL sprain kept Hairston out for two months; he has since played 56% of Buffalo’s defensive snaps. The Bills will need to lean on Tre’Davious White opposite Benford. Jackson brings a proven backup-level player, albeit one who has been on the practice squad this season and only saw action in three regular-season games. Hairston is not on IR, keeping him in play for a possible divisional-round game. But it is obviously not a good sign when a player is ruled out the Wednesday before a game.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/29/25
Today’s practice squad moves:
Houston Texans
- Signed: CB Ameer Speed
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: QB Seth Henigan
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: DT Kyler Baugh
- Released: CB Daryl Porter
The Steelers shook up their practice squad today by shuffling through defenders. The team brought back former Minnesota standout Kyler Baugh, who spent most of this season on Pittsburgh’s taxi squad. He was cut by the squad last week. In a corresponding move, the team moved on from Daryl Porter, who got into one game with the Steelers this season.
The Colts appear to be trending towards ending Phillip Rivers‘ comeback story and opting for Riley Leonard as their Week 18 starter at QB. The team started the process today by adding an extra signal-caller to the practice squad in Seth Henigan. The Memphis product spent the preseason in Jacksonville, and he spent about a month on the Jaguars practice squad before earning his walking papers.
Minor NFL Transactions: 12/20/25
Here are Saturday’s minor moves around the NFL, including gameday elevations for tomorrow’s Week 16 slate:
Arizona Cardinals
- Elevated: CB Jaden Davis, WR Steven Sims
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed from practice squad: CB C.J. Henderson
- Waived: WR/KR Jamal Agnew
- Elevated: WR Chris Blair, OLB Khalid Kareem
Baltimore Ravens
- Elevated: DT Josh Tupou, LB William Kwenkeu
- Placed on IR: LB Teddye Buchanan (story)
Buffalo Bills
- Activated from IR: WR Mecole Hardman
- Elevated: K Michael Badgley, DE Andre Jones Jr.
Carolina Panthers
- Elevated: LB Isaiah Simmons, OL Saahdiq Charles
Cincinnati Bengals
- Elevated: DT Howard Cross, CB Bralyn Lux
Dallas Cowboys
- Elevated: CB Corey Ballentine
Denver Broncos
- Elevated: QB Sam Ehlinger, S Delarrin Turner-Yell
Detroit Lions
- Elevated: OL Kingsley Eguakun, TE Giovanni Ricci
Houston Texans
- Elevated: DT Marlon Davidson, CB Alijah Huzzie
Los Angeles Chargers
- Elevated: S Marcus Williams, G Branson Taylor
Miami Dolphins
- Signed from practice squad: CB Ethan Robinson
- Placed on IR: DB Elijah Campbell
- Elevated: OL Kion Smith, WR Theo Wease
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed from practice squad: CB Dwight McGlothern
- Elevated: LB Sione Takitaki
New York Giants
- DT Elijah Chatman, K Ben Sauls
New York Jets
- Elevated: DB Tre Brown
New Orleans Saints
- Elevated: T Easton Kilty, TE Moliki Matavao
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Elevated: CB Daryl Porter Jr., T Jack Driscoll
San Francisco 49ers
- Placed on IR: LB Nick Martin
Tennessee Titans
- Signed from practice squad: DT Cam Horsley
- Waived: DT Shy Tuttle
- Elevated: CB Kemon Hall
Agnew’s time in Atlanta has come to an end after 11 appearances with his third career team. The veteran did not see any usage on offense, but he handled 45 total returns between kickoffs and punts this season. Agnew totaled 855 yards in that capacity, but he will now hit the waiver wire. Provided he clears, the 30-year-old will become a free agent.
The same is true of Tuttle. A veteran of 105 games, he has made just one start so far this season. Tuttle has only handled a 25% snap share on defense, so he is unlikely to generate much interest as a free agent. Nevertheless, a depth role could await him on a contender down the stretch.
Wednesday NFL Transactions: AFC North
Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These Bengals, Browns, Ravens and Steelers moves are noted below.
Baltimore Ravens
Signed to practice squad:
- T Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan, DB Thomas Graham, OLB Malik Hamm, QB Tyler Huntley, DB Keondre Jackson, RB D’Ernest Johnson, WR Keith Kirkwood, ILB Chandler Martin, WR Anthony Miller, TE Zaire Mitchell-Paden, DT C.J. Okoye, G Jared Penning, DB Marquise Robinson, DE Kaimon Rucker, C Nick Samac, RB Lucas Scott, DL Brent Urban
Cincinnati Bengals
Signed to practice squad:
- RB Gary Brightwell, T Devin Cochran, T Andrew Coker, CB Jalen Davis, LB Joe Giles-Harris, G Jaxson Kirkland, CB Bralyn Lux, C Seth McLaughlin, RB Kendall Milton, WR Jordan Moore, LB Maema Njongmeta, DE Isaiah Thomas, WR Isaiah Williams, S Russ Yeast
Reverted to IR:
-
T Caleb Etienne, TE Tanner McLachlan, G Cordell Volson
Cleveland Browns
Claimed:
- CB Jarrick Bernard-Converse (from Jets), RB Raheim Sanders (from Chargers)
Waived:
- TE Brenden Bates, CB Dom Jones
Signed to practice squad:
- TE Sal Cannella, WR Kaden Davis, S Christopher Edmonds, DT Ralph Holley, CB LaMareon James, DT Sam Kamara, RB Ahmani Marshall, DE Julian Okwara, RB Trayveon Williams, QB Bailey Zappe
Pittsburgh Steelers
Signed to practice squad:
- DL Kyler Baugh, CB Beanie Bishop, DB Sebastian Castro, OL Dylan Cook, TE JJ Galbreath, WR Max Hurleman, DB D’Shawn Jamison, OL Steven Jones, DL DeMarvin Leal, RB Lew Nichols, CB James Pierre, DB Daryl Porter, RB Trey Sermon, LB Julius Welschof, WR Ke’Shawn Williams, WR Robert Woods
Steelers Cut P Cameron Johnston, 12 Others
The Steelers started moving on from some players late last week, and they continued the process this afternoon. The team announced the following transactions:
Released:
Waived:
- DL Kyler Baugh
- TE JJ Galbreath
- WR Max Hurleman
- DB D’Shawn Jamison
- OL Steve Jones
- WR Lance McCutcheon
- RB Lew Nichols
- DB Daryl Porter
- LB Mark Robinson
- K Ben Sauls
- LB Julius Welschof
- OL Aiden Williams
Cameron Johnston inked a three-year deal with the Steelers last offseason and was expected to lead the depth chart for the foreseeable future. However, the veteran suffered a knee injury in Week 1 that knocked him out for the rest of the season, allowing Corliss Waitman to secure the punting gig. It appears that Waitman won the competition between the two this preseason, and Johnston will now look to revive his career elsewhere. The team also moved on from kicker Ben Sauls, who always seemed destined to be cut considering Chris Boswell is still kicking around.
Among the team’s other notable cuts are Max Hurleman, who caught a touchdown in Pittsburgh’s preseason opener and was a standout during training camp, and linebackerMark Robinson, who was believed to be competing for a spot on the Steelers defense.