Buffalo Rumblings
The NFL trade deadline looms large, with November 4 just around the corner. In the past, Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane has leveraged the trade deadline to bolster the team’s in-season roster for a playoff push. Now more than ever, Beane may need to work the lines to address what’s clearly the team’s biggest defensive weakness — that being the defensive backfield.
Recall, One Bills Drive recognized the situation, bringing back fan-favorite cornerback Tre’Davious White. However, many had reservations about White starting games in 2025.
Buffalo’s decision makers likely knew this too, and focused there early in the 2025 NFL Draft. First, the Bills selected cornerback Maxwell Hairston with the team’s top pick late in Round 1, then later adding cornerback Dorian Strong in Round 6.
With those three moves, a plan was in place heading into mandatory minicamp: Competition breeds greatness, where White and Hairston would compete for the starting LCB role, and Strong would backup Christian Benford at RCB. By all accounts, Hairston looked good early, and likely headed to a starting role on defense to begin the season.
Unfortunately for Hairston and the Bills, a knee has played a major role in his rookie season, robbing him of valuable preseason reps before he landed on in-season Injured Reserve (IR). Hairston is now eligible to return from IR, but Buffalo has yet to open his practice window.
That left the Bills to start White at LCB, with Dorian Strong now his immediate understudy. By Week 3 it was clear that White had lost more than a few steps needed to cover NFL receivers, which led the team to giving Strong 22% of reps at outside cornerback in Week 4 versus the New Orleans Saints.
Strong showed well, and the hope was that he could continue growing into a bigger role with the starting defense. That is, until he appeared on the team’s injury report ahead of the Week 5 game against the New England Patriots. Having suffered an unspecific neck injury, now Strong is on in-season IR.
On Monday, head coach Sean McDermott mentioned that Strong was headed “to see a specialist for his neck injury,” per ESPN Bills reporter Alaina Getzenberg. McDermott added that nothing is ruled out yet, which includes the possibility of season-ending IR.
That leaves Buffalo’s defense with Tre’ White the unquestioned starter at LCB, with cornerback Ja’Marcus Ingram (once again) the immediate backup. It remains to be seen how comfortable the Bills standing pat with the current lineup, and that’s without even considering the potential for additional injury.
Buffalo does have options on the practice squad, where veteran cornerback Dane Jackson and an untested Daequan Hardy both wait for their opportunity. To be certain, teams value those players in-house above almost anyone outside the organization. That is, unless they look to bring a former player back with experience in the system, or see someone who excels in a similar mold. Two seasons ago, that was cornerback Rasul Douglas, who Beane brought in...
