Maxwell Hairston, Buffalo Bills Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

'What-if' NFL Draft scenario could have changed Bills' first-round pick

Originally posted on Buffalo Bills on SI
By Anthony Miller | Last updated May 7, 2025 6:32 PM ET

The Buffalo Bills were presumably able to hit a home run with their first-round pick in selecting Kentucky cornerback Maxwell Hairston.

Buffalo made nine selections in the 2025 NFL Draft, with six of them being on defense. Hairston was the first of five straight defensive players picked by the Bills.

A shoulder injury last year with the Wildcats cost Hairston five games during the season. That injury might have cost him a chance to be a top 20 selection in the draft, but one move might have changed Hairston's NFL home.

Pro Football Focus writer Dalton Wasserman discussed five different "what-if" scenarios regarding the NFL Draft and the chain reaction they would have caused. One scenario that would have affected the Bills is what would have happened if the Dallas Cowboys had picked Green Bay Packers wide receiver Matthew Golden instead of guard Tyler Booker.

Wasserman believes that if the Packers didn't get the chance to get Golden, they might have opted to select Hairston instead.

"If Dallas had selected Golden, we may not have seen the Green Bay Packers break their 23-year drought of selecting a wide receiver in the first round. Assuming the Cowboys drafted Golden and the Buccaneers drafted Egbuka, the Packers may have had to pivot to another area of need, especially considering the next best receiving options, Burden and Jayden Higgins, weren’t taken until the second round. Green Bay may have drafted edge defender James Pearce Jr. or cornerback Maxwell Hairston instead."

While Wasserman didn't continue the wormhole into what the Bills would have done, it would make for an interesting scenario of what would happen if the Bills didn't have Hairston available to select. There are a few options Buffalo could have taken.

One option is to trade back and pick up a selection. The Philadelphia Eagles called the Bills about trading ahead of them to get Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell. Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane could have struck a deal with Eagles general manager Howie Roseman to acquire an extra pick or two to use as trade collateral later in the draft.

Buffalo could have also tried to trade up with the Los Angeles Rams, as they did with the Atlanta Falcons. That trade might have been tougher since the Falcons offered a future first-round pick, which Beane would most likely not have been okay with.

Some draft selection options for the Bills would have been defensive end James Pearce Jr., defensive tackle Tyleik Williams, and maybe even reaching a bit on their real-life second-round pick, T.J. Sanders. It appeared wide receiver was not an option early on in the draft, as Beane wanted to build the defense up first.

The draft would have been more interesting from the Bills' perspective if Hairston went to the Packers, but Beane and the Buffalo organization are probably happy it didn't go in that direction.