Does an athletic FCS product have a shot at the 53-man roster?
The Buffalo Bills definitely have a type at defensive end they seek to add to the team. Bigger, longer players intermix with bendier, more agile players to give the team some variety in its edge rushers. At the start of the Sean McDermott/Brandon Beane regime, the Bills seemed to prioritize those longer “edge-setters” over the more explosive agile types. Now, the Bills have a healthy mix of both.
In some instances, Buffalo’s edge players themselves are actually a mix of both the bendy, agile-type in a bigger frame. Greg Rousseau is a good example of that. And, while the subject of today’s edition of “90 players in 90 days,” shouldn’t be expected to be Groot as a rookie, he’s certainly an intriguing prospect at defensive end.
Name: Hayden Harris
Number: 52
Position: DE
Height/Weight: 6’5”, 255 pounds
Age: 24 (25 on 11/4/2025)
Experience/Draft: R; signed with Buffalo following the 2025 NFL Draft
College: Montana
Acquired: UDFA signing
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Harris signed a three-year deal worth a total of $2.975 million. For the season, he carries a cap hit of $843,333 if he makes the final roster. The Bills will carry a dead-cap charge of $10,000 if he’s released.
2024 Recap: Harris finished his decorated career with Montana by making Second-Team All-Big Sky. He was also voted team defensive MVP. He played in 14 games, amassing 52 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, an interception, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and two pass breakups. He led the league in forced fumbles, was second in fumble recoveries, and finished third in both sacks and tackles for loss on the season.
While he wasn’t invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, he did have a productive Pro Day. Harris benched 225 pounds a total of 25 times, ran a 4.81-second 40-yard dash, leapt 9’7” in the broad jump, and finished the three-cone drill in 7.4 seconds. He was the No. 11 overall pick in the CFL Draft, and he has Canadian citizenship through his mother, who was born in Vancouver, B.C.
Positional outlook: Harris is one of eight defensive ends on the roster. A.J. Epenesa, Greg Rousseau, Joey Bosa, Javon Solomon, Landon Jackson, Paris Shand, and Michael Hoecht are the others.
2025 Offseason: Harris is healthy and participating in offseason work.
2025 Season outlook: Harris definitely has some intrigue and upside, as he has the requisite size (in addition to his height-weight measurements, he has 32.125”-long arms) and strength to play the edge in Buffalo’s defense. The question is whether he’ll be able to handle the jump in competition.
Prior to playing at Montana, Harris attended UCLA, playing in only five games across three seasons, totaling two tackles. While it’s possible that he will be ready given the fact that he’s grown — both physically and emotionally — over the last two seasons, it’s just as likely that he can’t hack it against better competition.
Even if Harris has a great preseason, looking at the depth chart doesn’t give much hope for his chances right now. Bosa, Rousseau, and Epenesa all figure to be big parts of the rotation. Jackson was a third-round draft choice this season, and Solomon showed promise as a rookie last year. And while Hoecht is suspended for the first six games thanks to a positive PED test, the Bills didn’t give him a three-year contract this off-season for no reason.
Harris has potential as a practice-squad addition at the end of the preseason, and that’s really the role I think he’s auditioning for this summer.