Wildcats cornerback Maxwell Hairston is selected by the Buffalo Bills as the number 30 pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
April 25, 2025Updated 5:21 pm GMT+1
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — General manager Brandon Beane seeks redemption. Perhaps his greatest boo-boo as the Buffalo Bills’ top scout occurred the one time he drafted a cornerback in the first round.
Beane gave it another go Thursday night, and while he and the player concede imperfections, there’s enough skill and spirit for everybody to work with.
Buffalo selected quicksilver University of Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston 30th overall. There are size concerns. Some scouts question his tackling abilities. Beane said Hairston occasionally got “big-boyed” by ball carriers. Then again, Hairston ran the 40-yard dash in 4.28 seconds, has a knack for taking interceptions the distance and considers himself not only a difference-maker, but the difference-maker.
“We’re just one piece away, and I feel like I’m that missing piece,” Hairston said after the Bills called him. “I feel like this team is a Super Bowl-ready team, and we’re going to go out there and attack it.”
What You Should Read Next
Bills draft Maxwell Hairston: How he fits, pick grade and scouting intel
Bills draft Maxwell Hairston: How he fits, pick grade and scouting intel
Hairston clocked a 4.28 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine earlier this year — the fastest of any prospect in attendance.
Beane could have played it safe like he did last year, trading back and accumulating more draft capital for Friday night.
But only one traditional cornerback was off the board when the Bills picked. Yes, two-way star Travis Hunter went second overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the lone full-timer was Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron to the Denver Broncos with the 20th pick. That left Buffalo with plenty of prospects at a thin position.
“You love when the grade matches the value and matches the need,” Beane said. “You just don’t know how it’s going to fall.”
CB
4
TOP 100 RANK
35
BUF
HT
6′0″
WT
183
Maxwell Hairston
Kentucky
Could be an early starter, if his tackling improves
Read the full profile on
Beane and his staff have done very well at evaluating cornerbacks in later rounds, but they essentially wasted a first-round pick on Kaiir Elam three years ago. Selected 23rd overall, Elam was the fourth cornerback off the board. He struggled to get on the field, got lapped on the depth chart by teammates of lesser pedigree and often was a healthy scratch.
Last month, the Bills traded Elam and a sixth-round pick to the Dallas Cowboys for a fifth-round pick this year and a sixth-rounder next year. Elam’s time in Buffalo concluded at 13 starts.
Now, the Bills must bank on Sean McDermott’s staff, including a rebuilt, under-the-gun strength and conditioning program, to buff Hairston up and buff out the physical shortcomings that have kept him from looking like a complete defender.
Hairston is 5-foot-11 and weighed 183 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine. He said he’s 192 pounds now. Beane indicated they expect him to maintain that blistering speed with more bulk. But the Bills this offseason have voiced displeasure over how inadequately their young blue-chippers have matured as specimens, criticizing receiver Keon Coleman and tight end Dalton Kincaid and firing longtime strength and conditioning coach Eric Ciano.
2025 NFL Draft analysis
Don’t miss our team’s comprehensive coverage of the 2025 NFL Draft. Some highlights:
Our Day 2 live blog features pick-by-pick grades and expert analysis.
Best available players: Who’s left from Dane Brugler’s top 300?
Nick Baumgardner and Scott Dochterman grade the Round 1 selections.
A running list of picks, from No. 1 through ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ at No. 257.
‘The Athletic Football Show’: Watch live reaction to the draft.
Asked about Hairston’s tackling concerns, Beane didn’t demur.
“He’s definitely a willing tackler,” Beane said. “Did he get big-boyed once in a while or bounce off? Yes. But he’s willing. It’s not from a lack of effort.”
Beane also was asked about issues covering large receivers.
“Ultimately, it’s hard to win every matchup,” Beane said. “You can get a big, strong corner and he’s going to struggle against the smaller, shiftier players. Is (Hairston) going to get outmuscled once in a while on a jump ball against some guys if he’s going against a Mike Evans or some bigger guys like that? Yes. He’s not going to win all those.
“But what you do love is his recovery speed. He doesn’t panic with the ball to his back. He anticipates. He’s an instinctive player. He’s got a lot of good qualities. If he had that, too, he probably wouldn’t have been there” with the 30th pick.
In two seasons as a starter, although Hairston missed five games last season with a shoulder injury, he recorded six interceptions and returned three of them for interceptions.
Hairston acknowledges the demerits on his scouting reports, but insisted he will make the necessary adjustments to earn McDermott’s trust. Let’s not forget: tackling was cited as a Tre’Davious White weakness when the Bills drafted him 27th out of Louisiana State in 2017.
“Everything in my game, I can improve,” Hairston said, “and that’s something that, going to the NFL, I’m going to still keep that dog in me. I want to tackle. I want to get my nose dirty. It just comes down to following through my technique and following through my coaching, and I’m going to make it happen.”
To trade or not to trade
Beane revealed the Bills were more likely to trade out of the first round than make a move to pick earlier, but “being patient paid off” with Hairston.
“If he was gone and felt, ‘Man, we’ve lost that value,’ we would’ve taken what we thought was the best deal to go back into round two,” Beane said.
Two trades occurred just before the Bills picked, with the New York Giants swooping in for Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart at No. 25 and the Atlanta Falcons moving up 20 slots for Tennessee edge rusher James Pearce Jr.
“We were having conversations with people more behind us, wanting to come up,” Beane said. “We didn’t want to commit to that until we saw what was there on the board. We had options to go back, but we had a good grade on Max, and we’re excited that he was available.”
It was just the third time in Beane’s eight drafts he used his assigned first-rounder. The other times were 2021 (Gregory Rousseau) and 2019 (Ed Oliver).
Around the AFC East
AFC East rivals got stronger in the trenches Thursday night. The New England Patriots selected Louisiana State left tackle Will Campbell fourth overall, and three picks later the New York Jets took Missouri right tackle Armand Membou.
The Jets have made a habit of accumulating O-linemen in the first round, taking an NFL-high four of them since 2020 – all within the first 15 picks, no less. But the strategy hasn’t worked out for them. The Jets have failed to reach the playoffs in 14 straight seasons, tied with the Buffalo Sabres for the longest drought in North American major sports.
The Miami Dolphins called Michigan defensive tackle Kenneth Grant at No. 13, drafting that position for the first time since Raekwon Davis 56th overall in 2020.
(Top photo of Maxwell Hairston: Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)
Your Next Read
Tim Graham is a senior writer for The Athletic, covering Buffalo sports. He had been the Buffalo News’ enterprise reporter and previously covered the AFC East at ESPN and the Miami Dolphins at the Palm Beach Post. Follow Tim on Twitter @ByTimGraham
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