Bills Part Ways With 2024 Draft Pick CB After Initially Keeping Him
The Buffalo Bills made some deep cuts to whittle their final roster down to 53 players on Tuesday, and have continued to make cuts since then.
The team announced on Thursday that they parted ways with cornerback Daequan Hardy, a 2024 draft pick who was initially added to the practice squad. Despite showing some potential coming out of college, Hardy failed to find a role with the Bills and is now gone to make way for another defensive back.
Bills Swap Practice Squad Cornerbacks
The Bills made a pair of additions to their practice squad on Thursday, signing defensive end Andre Jones Jr. and cornerback Jalen Kimber. To make room, the team announced that Hardy has been released from the practice squad.
Hardy also missed the active roster last season but was added back to the practice squad. He failed to see any action, never getting a call-up to the active roster.
The Bills did re-sign Hardy to a futures contract earlier this year, but he remained stuck near the bottom of the depth chart through training camp and the preseason.
The team seemed to have some big plans for Hardy when he was drafted last year. Bills general manager Brandon Beane hinted that he would have a chance to take on the return specialist spot vacated by Deonte Harty.
“Hardy for Harty. That’s what we were laughing about up there,” Beane said of the team’s draft process.
Beane hinted that Hardy could use special teams as a way to break onto the roster, noting that they saw potential in his returning abilities.
“He would be [a potential punt returner]. We really liked his return skill, and then compete as a backend corner,” said Beane.
Bills Could Also See Potential in Jalen Kimber
The Bills could have a chance to develop Kimber on the practice squad. He went undrafted after leaving Penn State and initially signed with the Tennessee Titans before being released before the roster cutdown.
Though Kimber has some good physical tools, NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein wrote that he will need to make improvements in some areas before he can be a productive NFL player.
“Kimber has good size and impressive timed speed on paper, but his long speed tends to be more build-up than sudden,” Zierlein wrote. “He has agile, quick feet and is fairly athletic in coverage, but he’s lacking the necessary instincts to make more plays on the football. His tackling improved in 2024, but he’s missing the play strength and toughness in run support that NFL teams want to see.”
The Bills have found success into crafting practice squad cornerbacks into solid players, as they had with current reserve Ja’Marcus Ingram.
The Bills could need some depth in the secondary after a series of injuries in training camp. First-round rookie Maxwell Hairston was hurt in July and placed on injured reserve to start the season, meaning he will miss at least the first month. Veteran cornerback Tre’Davious White was also hurt in training camp and could be in danger of missing the team’s season opener against the Baltimore Ravens.
