The Buffalo Bills made a significant roster decision involving cornerback Dorian Strong on Wednesday, waiving the former sixth-round pick with a non-football injury designation as he continues recovering from neck surgery that will keep him out for the entire 2026 season.
The move does not signal the end of Strong’s tenure in Buffalo, but it formally acknowledges the severity of the injury that sidelined him as a rookie and leaves major questions about his NFL future beyond 2026.
Strong is expected to clear waivers and land on Buffalo’s Reserve/NFI list, according to NFL insider Sal Capaccio, as cited by Yardbarker. Nothing about this move signals a permanent split.
Strong’s Neck Injury: What Beane Said
Strong, 24, was injured in Week 4 of the 2025 season against the New Orleans Saints with a neck injury that would prove far more serious than initial reports suggested. He was placed on injured reserve and never returned during his rookie campaign.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane addressed the injury head-on at the NFL annual meetings in April 2026, and his language left little room for optimism.
“It’s a very serious deal. He’s potentially going to have a procedure that will determine whether he can play,” Beane said, according to Buffalo Rumblings.
Strong underwent the surgical procedure. In early February 2026, he posted a video to his Instagram expressing confidence about what lay ahead.
“Excited to have this procedure and get back and be better than ever!” he wrote, thanking Bills fans, the MAFIA, for their prayers and support.
By April, Strong was spotted at team facilities jogging in a pool while wearing a neck brace. Injury analyst Dr. Kyle Trimble of the site Banged Up Bills explained what was going on.
“The collar is to protect the surgical area and prevent incidental head movement,” Trimble wrote on social media, noting Strong was roughly two months removed from surgery at that point, according to an SI.com report.
His four-year rookie contract — a $4.8 million deal running through 2028, with a $1.005 million base salary for the 2026 season — remains intact.
Strong’s Buffalo Bills Career and Path to the Roster
Buffalo selected Strong in the sixth round, 177th overall, in the 2025 NFL Draft via a trade with the New York Giants. He arrived from Virginia Tech, where he earned third-team All-ACC honors in 2023 after starting all 13 games and recording three interceptions. A hand injury had wiped out most of his 2022 college season, a preview of the durability concerns that have since hounded him.
He made an immediate impression in limited time with the Bills. Strong earned a start in Buffalo’s Week 1 win over the Baltimore Ravens, logging 51 defensive snaps, and finished the season’s first four games with 10 total tackles before the neck injury ended his year.
Wednesday’s roster activity also included signing wide receivers Deven Thompkins and Max Tomczak, waiving injured running back Desmond Reid, and releasing wide receiver Gabriel Benyard.
Strong’s return to an NFL field remains an open question that Beane himself could not answer in April. The 2026 season will now pass entirely without him.
Buffalo Bills Make Significant Dorian Strong Roster Decision As Minicamp Ends