ORCHARD PARK – Last spring, with Micah Hyde not officially retired and the chance that he could return to the Buffalo Bills still a possibility, his No. 23 jersey remained out of circulation.
That proved to be a wise decision by equipment manager Jeff Mazurek because in December, the Bills signed Hyde to their practice squad as veteran insurance at safety, but also to mentor some of the young players at the position, particularly rookie second-round draft pick Cole Bishop.
This spring, it’s a different story as Hyde has indeed called it quits and his jersey number was in play, and that’s how it wound up on the back of cornerback Dane Jackson, Hyde’s former teammate who left as a free agent in 2024 to sign with the Panthers, but is now back with the Bills in 2025.
“The story behind it is when I signed back, they asked me what number I wanted,” Jackson recalled Tuesday after the Bills’ OTA practice.
Jackson’s old No. 30, which he wore throughout his first stint here between 2020-23, was available, but knowing he had worn 23 last season in Carolina, Mazurek offered 23 as an option. Before he accepted, though, he felt he needed to ask permission.
“I’m like, let me hit Micah real quick, let me make sure,” Jackson said with a smile. “I texted him and Micah was like, ‘Man, take my number, take my locker, take everything.’ And I’m like, all right. That made me feel good. I’m like, all right, I’m gonna get 23 but I had to check with big bro first and he gave me the green light.”
A reporter asked him if it was weird wearing 23 but he said it wasn’t because he’d had the number last year, “So it’s kind of normal for me, but even when we go in the classroom after this, TB (Terrel Bernard) is like, ‘Oh, 23.’ It’s normal for me, but they’re just noticing it now, so it’s kind of different.”
Of course, Bernard is one to talk; he has switched from No. 43 to No. 8 this season.
Wearing 23 in Buffalo may be different for Jackson, but not much of anything else is. The Bills’ defense is no longer being coordinated by Leslie Frazier, but Bobby Babich – now in his second season calling the formations – has been on Sean McDermott’s staff since Day 1 so there’s obvious familiarity, and Jackson said much of the scheme is the same as it was when Jackson was last here.
“I don’t know another person that’s more deserving of it,” Jackson said of Babich getting promoted last season. “He’s worked hard, he knows how to lead us, he knows how to get us in the right position and help us win games. I’m still learning, I’m always going to be learning. I mean, there’s always different little details and stuff I can learn, but for sure, I mean, it’s a lot of the stuff I remember from last time.”
Dane Jackson’s spot on the Bills roster is not guaranteed
Another thing that really hasn’t changed for Jackson in Buffalo is that he’ll have to compete to win a roster spot. That’s what he did in his first four seasons with the team after being picked in the seventh round of the 2020 draft. He had to earn his roster spot every year, and while he wound up starting 28 of the 52 games he appeared in, he certainly doesn’t have a spot locked up on this team.
Jackson joins a cornerback room where the competition will be fierce. Christian Benford is the only boundary corner locked into a starting job, and across the field, Jackson will battle it out with another old teammate who has rejoined the team after a year away, Tre’Davious White, plus the Bills’ first-round draft pick, Maxwell Hairston.
Even the fight for a backup job is going to be intense because you also add into the mix players like Ja’Marcus Ingram, Te’Cory Couch and 2025 sixth-round pick Dorian Strong.
Jackson is more than ready to fight because that’s what he’s always done, but he also said that he’s going to help Hairston in any way he can because that’s part of his gig.
“I’m not looking at it as, ‘Oh, I’m a vet, I can’t do nothing,’” he said. “It’s a competition at the end of the day and we know that. Me helping him will never get in the way of that. I think he’s a great guy, great football player, so I’m going to do whatever I can to … if he wants to ask me a question or vice versa, if I’ve got to ask him a question, I’m going to do whatever I can.
“He’s doing his thing, he’s learning, he’s flying around, he’s having fun, he’s making plays. I don’t know if I’m allowed to say too much, but he had a great play (Monday), so he’s doing a great job.”
Ultimately, the Bills are banking on Hairston winning the job because hey, he’s their first-round pick and they are invested in him. But bringing back players like Jackson and White are also calculated moves because it never hurts to have veteran depth at any position.
“Brandon (Beane) and Sean target the right people for what we’re trying to get done here, and I think that’s really where it starts,” Babich said. “I think those are two guys that would influence rookies and are influencing rookies in a positive way. They’re selfless, they want to see young guys prosper in the same way that maybe a Tre White helped a Dane or going back to it, Dane helped a (Benford), right? So it’s just an intertwined deal, and those guys are awesome. They’re Bills-type players, and it’s great to have them back, and they are an absolute asset to that room.”
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades including 35 years as the full-time beat writer for the D&C, he has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Dane Jackson is back and proud to wear the number of a beloved former Bill
Reporting by Sal Maiorana, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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