Bills sign Maxwell Hairston, Deone Walker; TJ Sanders remains unsigned
Bills sign Maxwell Hairston, Deone Walker; TJ Sanders remains unsigned
The Buffalo Bills wrapped up their mandatory minicamp on Thursday as one of the last times that players will be able to convene before training camp begins later this summer. Buffalo is hoping that the incoming 2025 NFL Draft class is able to contribute to a team aspiring to make it to the Super Bowl and in that regard, there is good news and bad news.
The Bills announced on Friday that they signed first-round cornerback Maxwell Hairston and fourth-round defensive tackle Deone Walker to their rookie deals. Hairston was signed to a four-year, $15.2 million deal, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport while the details of Walker's contract has not been reported at the time of this writing on the rookie deals.
The bad news is that second-round defensive tackle TJ Sanders remains as the only unsigned rookie for the Bills from the entire class. Sanders, the 41st overall pick in the Draft, is projected to sign a rookie deal of $10.634 million, according to the NFL rookie scale. While most rookies sign their deals prior to participating in any offseason activities with their team, there are some players who hold out for various reasons.
What makes this situation interesting is that on Thursday, 40 rookies remain unsigned and 30 of them were players taken in the second round, which could speak to how some of these contracts could be unsatisfactory to the players at that spot. For example, Travis Hunter of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Shemar Stewart of the Cincinnati are two players taken in the first round that have not signed their deals.
Be that as it may, the Bills still have plenty of time to sign Sanders before training camp comes around and by that time, he would be able to focus on getting ready for the season without having to worry about his money. Friday showed that Buffalo has taken care of business with the rest of the draft class and Sanders, who the team traded up for, should be under contract before the season gets underway.
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