Longtime Bills Cornerback Lands With AFC Rival in Offseason Move

Dane Jackson
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Dane Jackson #30 of the Buffalo Bills warms up prior to a game against the Atlanta Falcons in January 2022.

A former Buffalo Bills cornerback is joining the team they beat in the playoffs.

The Jacksonville Jaguars announced that they signed veteran cornerback Dane Jackson, who was released by the Bills earlier this offseason. Jackson had played with the Bills for five of his six NFL seasons, including a return stint last year.


Dane Jackson’s New NFL Team

Jackson spent much of the 2025 season on Buffalo’s practice squad, appearing in three regular-season games and both playoff games. He filled in for injured rookie cornerback Maxwell Hairston and struggled in the postseason, giving up a critical late touchdown in a divisional-round loss to the Denver Broncos.

As the Jaguars noted, Jackson has plenty of NFL experience between his five years in Buffalo and a one-year stint with the Carolina Panthers.

“Jackson, 29, was drafted by Buffalo in the seventh round (239th overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Pittsburgh,” the team noted. “In six seasons with the Bills (2020-23, 2025) and Panthers (2024), he played 64 games (31 starts) and produced 169 tackles (three for loss), 30 passes defensed, three interceptions, two forced fumble and a fumble recovery. His finest season came in 2022 when he started 14-of-15 games, led the Bills with 12 passes defensed and added 49 tackles, two interceptions and one forced fumble. Jackson was a two-time All-ACC honoree during his time at Pitt.”


Several Key Defensive Players Remain Unsigned

Jackson was one of the first members of the 2025 defense to find a new home after leaving the Bills. The team parted ways with several veteran players in cost-cutting moves, including safety Taylor Rapp. Others, including cornerback Tre’Davious White and edge rushers A.J. Epenesa and Joey Bosa, remain unsigned after hitting free agency.

There could be a path back to Buffalo for at least some of those players. Bills general manager Brandon Beane hinted that the team would welcome White back, but wanted to wait until after the draft to see how the secondary was shaping up.

“Yeah, I mean, we love Tre’Davious,” Beane said, via Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. “I think at this point, you know, we’re waiting through the draft and probably he is as well. You would never close the door on bringing a guy like Tre back here to Buffalo.”

The Bills did add more competition through the draft, using a second-round pick on Ohio State cornerback Davison Igbinosun. Beane explained that the team needed a strong group of cornerbacks, noting how they were ravaged by injuries last season.

“You want to make sure, as the season goes along, if injury strikes, that you’ve got enough guys, even if they’re not starters,” Beane said, via the team’s official website. “How many guys we went through last season that played in the playoffs for us, or helped us get to the playoffs. So you’re going to need those guys.”

Beane added that Igbinosun seemed to be a strong fit for the team.

“He checked the box,” Beane stated. “The multitude of people that I talked to there just raved about his football character, his competitiveness, his love of ball. Great teammate.”

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Longtime Bills Cornerback Lands With AFC Rival in Offseason Move

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