It is all about micro-adjustments for a serious Super Bowl contender like the Buffalo Bills. Once again, Buffalo will be the presumptive favorite to win the AFC East and go on a deep playoff run this season. While they have made it to the AFC Championship Game multiple times, they simply cannot get past the Kansas City Chiefs when it matters most. This needs to be the year they take advantage.
With Kansas City varying degrees of vulnerable, can teams who have yet to reach the promised land with their current cores like Buffalo and the Baltimore Ravens make that dream a reality? Maybe one of them could do it, but not both teams. I am of the belief that whoever does not win the AFC this year between Baltimore and Buffalo is never going to with their current regimes. Buffalo cannot waste this.
One area where they look to have upgraded their roster is out on the perimeter. The Bills made a calculated decision to take former Kentucky Wildcats standout corner Maxwell Hairston near the end of the first round in the 2025 NFL Draft. This comes on the heels of the team punting on former first-round pick Tre'Davious White after the 2023 NFL season. Well, look who is back in town with Bills Mafia after a season away?
Right now, Hairston is ahead of White on the Bills' depth chart at their starting right cornerback spot.
Maxwell Hairston is expected to do more right away with Buffalo Bills
Look, for as good as White was in his first few seasons in the league with the Bills out of LSU, he has struggled to stay on the field the last few seasons. He has only played in 15 or more games in a season three times, and those were his first three years in the league. Since 2021, White has not appeared in more than 11 games for any team he has played for, including his two-team run last fall.
White split time with the Los Angeles Rams and Baltimore last season before signing a one-year deal to return to Orchard Park. He had been a solid player for the Bills for years, but they were getting diminishing returns. Not to say he will be having a renaissance season in his age-30 campaign, but perhaps a rotational role is best suited for him at this stage of his career? This is for the best.
As for Hairston, I was very bullish on the pick when it happened. He was a late climber up the draft boards, but I usually trust any defensive stud coming out of Lexington who played for Mark Stoops. Given that Bills head coach Sean McDermott is a former defensive back himself, I can see him taking a liking to a player who starred collegiately at his position group. For Buffalo, Hairston has to work out.
While he may be thrust into a role a bit sooner than expected, the Bills seem to be counting on him.