Buffalo Bills address need at cornerback by selecting Kentucky's Maxwell Hairston 30th in NFL draft

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Maxwell Hairston’s blistering speed wasn’t the only thing that helped convince Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane to select the Kentucky cornerback in the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday night.

What impressed Beane more, aside from filling Buffalo's most pressing offseason need, was the 21-year-old’s ability to recover when he gets beaten in coverage. It was a quality evident in one play the GM and Hairston watched during their meeting at the NFL combine in Indianapolis two months ago.

In a game against Texas last year, Longhorns receiver Isaiah Bond got a few steps on Hairston before the cornerback swiveled and, without losing his balance, chased down the receiver in time to break up a reception.

“It’s hard to have recovery speed like that,” Beane said after selecting Hairston 30th overall.

“Some guys run fast, like they run track fast, but they don’t play fast,” he added. “And you’re always looking to add speed as long as the football player matches it.”

Listed at 5-11 and 182 pounds, Hairston ran the fasted 40 of any player at the combine in being timed at 4.28 seconds.

Production-wise, he led the SEC as a sophomore in 2023 with five interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns. He had only one interception last year plus two forced fumbles in seven starts while missing five due to a shoulder injury.

Aside from speed, Hairston brings an infectious personality and joked about knowing what is expected from him in joining the quarterback Josh Allen-led five-time defending AFC East champions.

“I bring juice, I bring being a good teammate, I bring leadership,” said Hairston, who is from West Bloomfield, Michigan. “And I’m going to bring Josh Allen the ball back.”

Hairston joins a team with a hole at cornerback opposite returning starter Christian Benford.

Buffalo elected against re-signing starter Rasul Douglas last month, while also electing to move on from Kaiir Elam by trading the third-year player to Dallas last month. And Hairston became the first defensive player the Bills selected with their first pick in the draft since taking Elam at No. 23 in 2022.

Buffalo added veteran depth at the position with the free-agent additions of Tre’Davious White and Dane Jackson, who both rejoin the team after a one-year absence.

Though Hairston will have a shot to compete for a starting job, the veteran depth provides the Bills a level of insurance to ease in the rookie, who Beane said still needs to develop his tackling skills — something the team demands out of its cornerbacks.

“I think he is a willing tackler,” Beane said, noting Hairston has already started bulking up. “It’s not from a lack of effort. And he’s got the coverage skills, ball skills that you look for in a corner.”

On Thursday, Hairston was the fourth cornerback selected in the first round, including No. 2 pick Travis Hunter who also plays receiver.

By filling a position of need and with Buffalo having a first-round grade on Hairston, Beane said he elected to make the selection rather than trading back as he did twice in moving entirely out of the first round a year ago.

“We didn’t want to commit to that until we saw what was there on the board,” Beane said. “We had options to go back, but we had a good grade on Max. We’re excited that he was available.”

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Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston, right, celebrates with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after being chosen by the Buffalo Bills with the 30th overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston celebrates after being chosen by the Buffalo Bills with the 30th overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston, right, poses NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after being chosen by the Buffalo Bills with the 30th overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston celebrates after being chosen by the Buffalo Bills with the 30th overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston puts on a hat after being chosen by the Buffalo Bills with the 30th overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston, right, poses with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell , center, and Tommy Parzymieso after being chosen by the Buffalo Bills with the 30th overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston celebrates after being chosen by the Buffalo Bills with the 30th overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.

The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.

The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.

The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.

The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”

The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.

Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.

The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.

On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.

Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.

“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”

Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.

Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.

“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.

Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)