HEADLINES

Maxwell Hairston

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.

Bills Sign Round 1 CB Maxwell Hairston

June 13th, 2025 at 11:33am CST by Sam Robinson

Only three unsigned first-round picks now remain. The Bills checked theirs off the list Friday, agreeing to terms with Maxwell Hairston on his four-year rookie deal.

Hairston’s agreement leaves only Travis Hunter, Jahdae Barron and Shemar Stewart without contracts from Round 1. Hunter is not expected to sign for a bit, while Stewart is embroiled in a strange stalemate with the Bengals over guarantee language.

[RELATED: Bills Discussed Jaire Alexander Trade With Packers]

The Bills, who also signed fourth-round defensive tackle (and ex-Hairston Kentucky teammate) Deone Walker, have only one pick left to sign. Second-round DT T.J. Sanders remains out of contract, but the second round has served as a sticking point as guarantee value for that draft sector continues to climb. While Walker figures to see a depth role in 2025, Hairston will face pressure to become an immediate starter for a Super Bowl contender.

Projected to become a Bill at No. 30 in Ely Allen’s PFR mock, Hairston indeed ended up in Western New York. He is the Bills’ third Round 1 CB investment since 2017, following Tre’Davious White and Kaiir Elam. Hairston brings elite speed to Buffalo’s secondary. The Kentucky product blazed to a 4.28-second 40-yard dash at the Combine — this year’s fastest clocking — to cement his status as a first-round-level talent. The Bills opted to leave Rasul Douglas in free agency and draft Hairston, adding a rookie-contract complementary piece following their Christian Benford extension.

A Kentucky-record three pick-sixes placed Hairston on the map in 2023, but he followed up the five-INT campaign with only one interception and five passes defensed in an abbreviated 2024. Though, that singular pick was also returned for a score. Hairston’s ball skills draw the most attention, but he works with a keen awareness of how the defense around him is unfolding. A shoulder injury caused him to miss five games last season; the Bills will bet on the 5-foot-11 corner anyway, doing so with a track record of injuries and draft misfires taking place at the position during the Sean McDermott-Brandon Beane era.

White saw injuries blunt his All-Pro momentum, with his ACL and Achilles tears costing the Bills dearly in narrow playoff losses to the Chiefs — as Buffalo CB availability has become a defining component in this series — and eventually leading him out of town as a cap casualty. White, however, is back (on a one-year, $3MM deal). Elam represented one of the biggest first-round busts in Bills history; the team admitted a mistake on him by dealing the 2022 draftee to Dallas in a late-round pick-swap agreement. The Chiefs picked on Elam, thrust into Buffalo’s lineup because of another ill-timed Benford playoff injury, in their AFC championship game win.

The Bills’ latest postseason loss to their nemesis undoubtedly influenced the Hairston investment, and the AFC East powerhouse’s CB depth chart points to the speedy rookie setting up camp atop the depth chart alongside Benford and slot bastion Taron Johnson. The Bills will have Hairston signed through 2028 and will hold a fifth-year option on the contract for 2029.

Bills Select CB Maxwell Hairston At No. 30

April 24th, 2025 at 10:31pm CST by Adam La Rose

To no surprise, the Bills have gone the cornerback route with their top pick. Buffalo has selected Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston at No. 30 overall. A relatively new-look secondary will now feature the former Wildcat in 2025.

Hairston put himself on the map with a school-record three interceptions returned for touchdowns in 2023, but he followed up the five-pick campaign with only one interception and five passes defensed in an abbreviated 2024, though that singular pick was also returned for a score.

Hairston’s ball-skills draw the most attention, but he works with a keen awareness of how the defense around him is unfolding. Obviously, the shoulder injury that caused him to miss five games last year is something to watch moving forward, but as long as he stays healthy, the Bills have landed a playmaker on the outside.

Buffalo relied heavily on Christian Benford in 2024 as Rasul Douglas and Kaiir Elam — both since departed — returned middling campaigns. The team brought back a familiar face in free agency in Dane Jackson, but Jackson didn’t fare much better than Douglas and Elam during his time in Carolina. Hairston should be able to slide into a starting role as a rookie, but if he needs a bit of time to develop, another familiar, veteran face, Tre’Davious White, should be able to hold down the position to start 2025.

Ely Allen contributed to this post.