HEADLINES

Maxwell Hairston

Bills Activate Maxwell Hairston From IR

October 25th, 2025 at 3:05pm CST by Connor Byrne

Bills first-round rookie Maxwell Hairston is finally set for his NFL debut. The team announced that it has activated the cornerback from injured reserve.

The 30th overall pick from Kentucky, Hairston entered the summer competing with Tre’Davious White for the Bills’ No. 2 corner job opposite Christian Benford. Hairston suffered an LCL injury early in training camp, though, leading to an IR placement for him and a starting role for White.

At 30 years old and having dealt with two major injuries in recent seasons (a torn ACL and an Achilles tear), White has struggled to regain his past form in 2025. Benford has also failed to impress after landing a four-year, $69MM extension last offseason.

To make matters worse for the Bills, they’ve been thin at boundary corner behind Benford and White. Another one of their rookies, sixth-rounder Dorian Strong, went on IR with a neck injury after Week 4. He may not return this season. With Strong and Hairston out, the Bills have been down to Ja’Marcus Ingram – a healthy inactive multiple times in 2025 – as their third outside corner in recent weeks.

The addition of Hairston will provide some much-needed playmaking ability and speed to the Bills’ secondary. The team’s corners have gone without an interception during a 4-2 start in which the defense has picked off just two passes. Hairston racked up five INTs in 2023, though he totaled just one over seven games in an injury-limited year last season. The 5-foot-11, 183-pounder then ran the fastest 40-yard dash time at the combine (4.28), which no doubt contributed to the Bills’ decision to draft him.

After missing the Bills’ first six games, Hairston returned to practice this past Monday. The Bills would have had 21 days to activate him, but head coach Sean McDermott will bring him into the fold much quicker than that. Hairston will debut Sunday against the Panthers as the Bills try to snap a two-game losing streak.

Safety Jordan Poyer and defensive tackle Jordan Phillips will join Hairston on Buffalo’s active roster in Week 8. The team, which is banged up at both positions, elevated the pair of Jordans from the practice squad on Saturday.

Bills Designate CB Maxwell Hairston For Return

October 20th, 2025 at 4:57pm CST by Adam La Rose

Maxwell Hairston is moving closer to his NFL debut. The first-round rookie had his practice window opened by the Bills on Monday, per the transactions wire.

Last week, head coach Sean McDermott indicated a return to practice would be coming shortly. As such. today’s news comes as little surprise. The Bills now have 21 days to activate Hairston and avoid having him revert to season-ending injured reserve.

During roster cutdowns, Buffalo moved Hairston to IR with a return designation. That used up one of the team’s IR activations, meaning another will not be needed once the 22-year-old is officially brought back into the fold. More importantly, having Hairston available will provide a boost to Buffalo’s secondary – a unit which may be without fellow rookie Dorian Strong the rest of the way – as early as Week 8 as the team returns from its bye.

The Bills sit second in the NFL in pass defense, but their play against the run has been an issue so far. Buffalo has surrendered an average of 156 yards per game on the ground, the second-worst figure in the league. Adding Hairston to the mix is unlikely to make much of a different against the run, but the Kentucky product could certainly help a defense which has posted just two interceptions to date.

Over the course of his college career, Hairston posted six interceptions. Five of those came in 2023, although his lone pick from last season was returned for a touchdown. The 5-11, 183-pounder will look to add a playmaking element to Buffalo’s cornerback room early and often in his career. The Bills have Christian Benford and Tre’Davious White atop the depth chart for perimeter corners; Hairston will look to compete with the latter for playing time upon being activated.

Bills’ Maxwell Hairston Making Progress; DC Bobby Babich To Remain Play-Caller

October 15th, 2025 at 1:48pm CST by Connor Byrne

Buffalo is one of the few teams in the NFL that hasn’t gotten any help from its 2025 first-round pick. However, that may change soon. Head coach Sean McDermott said the Bills could open injured rookie cornerback Maxwell Hairston‘s 21-day practice window, though he didn’t indicate when that might happen (via Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic).

The Bills, now on a bye week and in the middle of a two-game losing streak, saw Hairston go down with an LCL injury early in training camp. They placed the former Kentucky Wildcat on IR in late August, setting up at least a four-game absence. Buffalo has now gone six games without Hairston, and though the team is 4-2, its defense hasn’t played particularly well. The secondary has been part of the problem.

If Hairston does take the field this year, the speedster could wrest playing time away from No. 2 cornerback Tre’Davious White. He and White would have competed for the job during the summer if not for Hairston’s injury. Both White and No. 1 corner Christian Benford have underwhelmed this season. It’s less surprising in the case of White, a 30-year-old who tore his ACL and his Achilles in recent years. Benford’s dropoff has been more concerning in the wake of the four-year, $69MM extension he signed in the offseason.

Regardless of whether Hairston emerges as a starter this season, he should at least improve Buffalo’s depth. Rookie sixth-rounder Dorian Strong, who worked as the Bills’ No. 3 boundary corner during the first few weeks of the season, could be done for the year with a neck injury. Thanks to the absences of Hairston and Strong, the team is down to Ja’Marcus Ingram as its top boundary option behind Benford and White.

The Bills are also dealing with issues up front, where starting defensive tackle DaQuan Jones is likely to miss time. Jones popped his calf during pregame warmups on Monday, leading him to sit out a loss to the Falcons, and was in a boot afterward (via Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN.com). Jones is tied for the team lead with two sacks, and Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranks his 2025 performance 19th among 122 qualifying defensive tackles.

The Bills are already without another D-tackle in rookie second-round pick T.J. Sanders, who went on IR last weekend, though fourth-rounder Deone Walker shined in the Atlanta game. Unless Jones makes a quick recovery, Walker and Ed Oliver will serve as the Bills’ main options at tackle coming out of the bye. The Bills could also reinstate veteran Larry Ogunjobi from a six-game PED suspension beginning in Week 8.

Regardless of who’s in the lineup when Week 8 rolls around, it doesn’t appear the Bills will make any changes to their defensive staff. While McDermott was a longtime defensive coordinator before the Bills hired him in 2017, he said that he’s not considering taking play-calling duties away from DC Bobby Babich (via Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News). In his second year on the job, Babich’s group ranks 10th in the NFL in sacks, 17th in points, 19th in yardage, and 22nd in third-down conversion rate. He’ll get a chance to right the ship after the bye.

Bills Notes: Hairston, Bass, Strong, Milano

October 9th, 2025 at 9:45pm CST by Connor Byrne

Hoping to improve their secondary after another postseason exit at the hands of the Chiefs in 2024, the Bills used their first-round pick in last spring’s draft on former Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston. Over a month into the season, though, they haven’t gotten any contributions from the 30th overall selection. Hairston remains on IR after spraining the LCL in his right knee early in training camp, and the team still hasn’t opened his 21-day practice window.

Asked Thursday if either Hairston or injured kicker Tyler Bass will play this season (via Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News), head coach Sean McDermott offered a noncommittal, “We’ll see.”

The 4-1 Bills haven’t missed Bass, who has been on IR all season with a hip/groin issue. Big-legged veteran Matt Prater, signed days before the season, has connected on 10 of 11 field-goal tries while nailing all 15 extra-point attempts.

On the other hand, Hairston’s absence has stung. After running the fastest 40-yard dash at the combine (4.28 seconds), he was expected to add some much-needed speed and playmaking skills to Buffalo’s secondary this season. A healthy Hairston would have battled offseason free agent pickup Tre’Davious White for the No. 2 cornerback role opposite Christian Benford over the summer. Hairston’s injury essentially handed the job to White by default, and the former First-Team All-Pro has struggled to regain his past form as a result of age (30) and multiple serious injuries.

White suffered a torn ACL in November 2021, a devastating blow to a player who was in his prime at the time, and then tore his Achilles in October 2023. The Bills released White in March 2024. However, they saw enough positives from him during a season divided between the Rams and Ravens that they brought him back on a one-year deal worth up to $6.8MM last April. The move hasn’t worked out thus far.

Since missing a Week 1 win over the Ravens with a groin injury, White has started four games in a row and yielded a 72.2 percent completion rate and a 101.6 passer rating. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranks his performance 72nd out of 105 qualifying corners. Alarmingly, Benford checks in at an even worse 75th overall after scoring a four-year, $69MM contract extension in April. Neither player has picked off a pass this year on a defense that has just two interceptions (one from linebacker Terrel Bernard, the other from safety Cole Bishop).

Worsening matters for the Bills’ cornerback group, injured rookie Dorian Strong will see a neck specialist and may miss the rest of the season, according to McDermott (via Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic). The sixth-round pick went on IR last week after playing the first four games of his career. He started the Bills’ opener in place of White. Strong has hardly stood out this year, but his absence is detrimental to the Bills’ depth at corner and on special teams. Ja’Marcus Ingram, who has been a healthy inactive twice this season, is now the team’s No. 3 boundary CB behind Benford and White.

If the Bills’ problems at corner don’t improve, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see general manager Brandon Beane target the position leading up to the Nov. 4 deadline. Beane, who has typically been active at the deadline, is just two years removed from swinging a noteworthy deadline deal for a corner.

A few weeks after White’s Achilles injury, Beane acquired Rasul Douglas and a fifth-round pick from the Packers for a third-rounder. Douglas wound up serving as a full-time starter for the Bills through the 2024 campaign. They let him walk in free agency last offseason after his performance declined, leading Douglas to join the division-rival Dolphins in August.

Along with Hairston and Strong, it appears Buffalo’s defense will also continue to go without linebacker Matt Milano. The effective but oft-injured 31-year-old is “week to week” with a tweaked pectoral, McDermott said. Milano injured his pectoral in a Week 2 win over the Jets and then missed the Bills’ next two games. He returned in last Sunday’s loss to the Patriots, but he re-aggravated the injury during the second half and sat out for the rest of the game.

McDermott doesn’t expect an IR stint for Milano, but he does seem likely to miss their game in Atlanta on Monday night. Meanwhile, fellow linebacker Dorian Williams (knee) may be unavailable for the second straight week. If Milano and Williams are on the shelf for Week 6, Shaq Thompson should get the bulk of the playing time alongside Bernard.

Bills Set 53-Man Roster

August 26th, 2025 at 6:43pm CST by Ben Levine

The Bills have set their initial 53-man roster after moving on from 25 players today. The team announced the following moves:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on IR (designated for return):

Placed on reserve/suspended:

We learned yesterday that quarterbacks Mike White and Shane Buechele also weren’t going to make the squad.

The Bills moved on from a handful of veterans as they set their first 53-man roster of the season. Among the cuts were offensive lineman Dan Feeney, who has 120 games of experience, and cornerback Dane Jackson, who got into 52 games for the Bills to begin his career. Jackson spent the 2024 campaign in Carolina, where he started three of his nine appearances.

A handful of these cut players have already been connected to Buffalo’s practice squad, assuming they pass through waivers unclaimed. This grouping includes Stephen Gosnell (per Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News), Travis Clayton (per Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN), Keleki Latu (per Ryan Talbot of Syracuse.com), and Kendrick Green (per Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic).

Bills Place CB Maxwell Hairston On IR

August 26th, 2025 at 5:06pm CST by Sam Robinson

The LCL injury Maxwell Hairston suffered early in training camp will indeed cost him at least four games. The Bills set their initial 53-man roster today, and Hairston is heading to IR.

Buffalo stashed the first-round cornerback on IR, with a return designation covering the rookie and offensive lineman Tylan Grable. That duo can return to practice in Week 5, but both players are on the shelf until at least October.

While the Bills breathed a sigh of relief when it was revealed Hairston’s knee injury was not an ACL tear, the LCL sprain he did suffer will cover a chunk of his rookie year. Hairston will lose developmental time because of this injury, as he cannot be designated for return until after the Bills’ Week 4 game. But the team is understandably saving one of its injury activations for a prized prospect.

Hairston and Grable count against Buffalo’s regular-season activation total. The 2024 IR rule change allowed teams to stash two players on IR upon setting their initial 53-man rosters in August, but those players — whether they are activated or not — count against the team’s total. Teams have eight activations each regular season; the Bills are now down to six.

Buffalo used both its allotted August IR moves last year, stashing Matt Milano and Darrynton Evans on the injured list upon setting their roster. Milano returned, while the Bills cut Evans. The running back still counted against the Bills’ activation total, even though he did not play for the Bills in 2024.

The Bills have clear plans for Hairston, but his route to complementing Christian Benford as a boundary CB starter is on hold. For the time being, it will be Tre’Davious White on track to be Buffalo’s No. 2 corner. White had been the team’s top coverage presence for most of his seven-year stint with the team, but ACL (2021) and Achilles (’23) tears sidetracked the former All-Pro. Ahead of an age-30 season, White has a redemption chance. This is a risk, as White struggled last season after being a cap casualty, but the 2024 Rams and Ravens corner will return to a familiar locale and attempt to give starter-level form to the Bills again.

IR Stint In Play For Bills’ Maxwell Hairston

August 12th, 2025 at 3:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Bills avoided the worst-case scenario with Maxwell Hairston, but the first-round pick still looks unlikely to begin the season on time. How much of the season he misses now looks like the key question.

Hairston suffered an LCL sprain early in training camp. While this represented a significant break for the Bills after an ACL tear was initially feared, Sean McDermott said an IR stint to open the season is in play. Due to Hairston’s recovery timeline, McDermott confirmed (via The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia) the team will probably need to discuss the prospect of Maxwell opening the season on IR. On a positive note, McDermott said (via the Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski) Hairston is off crutches.

Buffalo would have two IR options with Hairston. The team could use one of its two summer IR-return slots, which are available to teams before roster-cutdown day, to save a roster spot as Hairston continues to rehab. The Bills could also carry Hairston on the 53-man roster past cutdown day and then shift him to IR. The second path would be unlikely, as it is expected Hairston will be back to contribute as a rookie. He thus makes sense for one of the team’s August IR-return slots, which must be announced by 3pm CT August 26.

Last year, the Bills used both their summer IR-return slots — which became available to teams beginning in 2024 — by stashing Matt Milano and running back Darrynton Evans on their injured list. This covered two of Buffalo’s eight injury activations. While Milano returned from IR late in the season, the Bills did not activate Evans and instead cut him.

The team had aimed for Hairston to start opposite the recently extended Christian Benford, letting Rasul Douglas test free agency. While the two-year Buffalo starter remains available, the Bills have reunited with Tre’Davious White. The former All-Pro, whose career skidded off track due to ACL and Achilles tears, is moving toward a chance to start again. This represents a risk due to White’s recent form, but the Bills have been pleased with how the nine-year veteran has looked during camp.

White is going into his age-30 season and struggled in four Rams starts, being traded (to the Ravens) in a seventh-round pick swap at the deadline. Baltimore used White as a backup in seven games. White started 82 games for the Bills from 2017-23. Buffalo also reunited with 28-game starter Dane Jackson this offseason; Jackson spent 2023 with the Panthers.

Hairston missing this much practice time will likely affect his development. The Bills will not be eligible to designate the Kentucky product to return to practice until after Week 4. It would make sense Hairston hitting IR would lead to a longer absence than the four-game minimum, as the team would seemingly want him to ramp up during practice. The Bills could avoid this scenario by keeping Hairston off IR, using a week-to-week strategy that would allow for earlier practice work in the event he is ready.

Bills CB Maxwell Hairston Avoids ACL Tear

July 30th, 2025 at 12:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

Maxwell Hairston went down with a noncontact knee injury during Tuesday’s Bills practice. Fears of an ACL tear turned out to be overblown.

The first-round cornerback’s ACL is intact, according to Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz, and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo report the Kentucky product suffered an LCL sprain. Hairston is expected to be out for at least a few weeks, but the Bills avoided the worst-case scenario here.

Buffalo views Hairston as likely to be ready for Week 1, Schultz adds. This is a break for the Bills, who based their offseason cornerback plan on Hairston. The team did not re-sign Rasul Douglas and authorized a Christian Benford extension — one that soon became paired with Hairston’s rookie contract. The team also traded Kaiir Elam, who had not panned out as a 2022 first-round choice.

Douglas remains a free agent, not signing with the Dolphins despite multiple instances of reported negotiations emerging. Miami has since signed Jack Jones and Mike Hilton. Douglas remaining available represents an interesting option for the Bills, but if Hairston is to be back by Week 1 or shortly before that point, they may opt to stick with their current depth chart. The team also brought back Tre’Davious White and Dane Jackson this offseason.

The knee injury comes after the Bills received word of a civil suit alleging Hairston sexually assaulted a woman as a freshman at Kentucky. Hairston, 22 next week, denied the allegation.

“This is something I’ve been dealing with since I was 17,” Hairston said, via Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith. “It’s been four years now, and I went through this whole process with the police, they went through a thorough investigation, and I was exonerated from that. The University of Kentucky did a thorough investigation, I was exonerated from that as well. And I volunteered to do multiple polygraphs because I was determined to get my truth out there, because I had nothing to hide. I was an open book.

“The Bills have been by my side from the start because they did their own thorough investigation. The people that know the truth know, and those are the people I’m sticking by and they’re sticking by me.”

Brandon Beane previously suggested the Bills conducted thorough research on this matter, indicating he believed the cornerback was falsely accused of this crime. In the suit, the unnamed woman accuses Hairston of sexually assaulting her in her dorm room on March 25, 2021. The suit alleges Hairston removed the woman’s pajamas, after she had indicated she was tired and uninterested in sexual intercourse, and assaulted her. The woman filed a police report at the time, according to Bardahl and Graham, and went through a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner exam at a hospital.

Bills’ Maxwell Hairston Accused Of Sexual Assault In Civil Suit

July 2nd, 2025 at 2:21pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Bills first-round cornerback Maxwell Hairston has been accused of sexual assault in a civil lawsuit filed in Kentucky, according to WKBW News in Buffalo.

The case stems from a 2021 allegation during Hairston’s freshman year at the University of Kentucky that drew little attention during the pre-draft process. Hairston was 17 at the time of the alleged incident, per Jana Bardahl and Tim Graham of The Athletic. The alleged victim, an Ohio woman, eventually transferred out of the school.

In the suit, the unnamed woman accuses Hairston of sexually assaulting her in her dorm room on March 25, 2021. The suit alleges Hairston removed the woman’s pajamas, after she had indicated she was tired and uninterested in sexual intercourse, and assaulted her. The woman filed a police report at the time, according to Bardahl and Graham, and went through a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner exam at a hospital.

Shortly after selecting Hairston, Bills general manager Brandon Beane called him “an impeccable kid” and said that the incident was “fully investigated” by both the university and his own staff in Buffalo.

“It was one of those where there was zero — zero — information saying that this actually happened,” Beane said in April (via Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith). Today, the University of Kentucky and the Bills both declined to comment on the lawsuit, per WKBW.

As of 2023, the NFL’s personal conduct policy includes language that allows the league to investigate and discipline players for conduct from before they were drafted, according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. That would include the allegation against Hairston, though the league may wait for the civil proceedings to play out before making a determination of its own.

The Bills chose Hairston 30th overall, making him the second pure cornerback taken in this draft. His rookie contract — worth a fully guaranteed $15.28MM — runs through 2028 and includes a fifth-year option for 2029.

Sam Robinson contributed to this report

Bills CBs Tre’Davious White, Maxwell Hairston To Compete For Starting Spot

June 24th, 2025 at 10:28am CST by Adam La Rose

The Bills have one perimeter corner spot accounted for in the form of Christian Benford. He received a multi-year extension this offseason, something which was the case one year ago for slot man Taron Johnson.

Benford and Johnson will be key figures on defense once again in 2025, but it remains to be seen who the other starting corner will be for Buffalo. The team reunited with Tre’Davious White in free agency, bringing back a former All-Pro who battled injuries during the end of his initial Buffalo tenure. He is a candidate to see first-team action during his second stint with the Bills.

Maxwell Hairston is of course in position to compete for an immediate starting role, though. The Kentucky product was selected 30th overall, making him Buffalo’s top draft choice. It came as little surprise a corner was targeted on Day 1 given the team’s need for another long-term (and comparatively inexpensive) investment at the position. According to The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia, White and Hairston are the leading candidates to earn a starting spot during training camp (subscription required).

Describing the competition as “wide open” at this point, Buscaglia adds veteran Dane Jackson and sixth-round rookie Dorian Strong are in the mix as well. It would come as a surprise, though, if either of those two played their way into a first-team position ahead of Week 1. Nevertheless, training camp and the preseason will be key in determining how the team’s secondary takes shape.

White began last season with the Rams, but after starting each of the team’s first four games he found himself out of the lineup. The 30-year-old was then traded to the Ravens and he handled part-time defensive duties through the end of the regular season and the team’s divisional round loss to the Bills. Following that game, White made it clear he would welcome a return to Buffalo. That was indeed arranged via a one-year deal featuring $2.2MM in guarantees.

Hairston made little impact during his redshirt freshman season, but in 2023 he showcased his playmaking skills with five interceptions and six pass deflections. Limited to only seven games by a shoulder injury last year, he was unable to duplicate that production but remained a strong Day 1 candidate based on his speed (demonstrated by a 4.28 40-yard dash time at the Combine). Even if he is unable to earn an immediate starting gig, Hairston will be expected to emerge as a key figure in the secondary for years to come.

Buffalo traded away former first-rounder Kaiir Elam and elected not to re-sign Rasul Douglas this offseason, leading to changes at the cornerback spot. The Bills ranked 24th against the pass last year, and improvement in that area will be a goal for 2025. The pending competition will thus make for a notable training camp storyline.

Load More Posts