Another one of Sean McDermott’s Buffalo Bills pet projects is calling it a career

Yet another Sean McDermott pet project from his time with the Buffalo Bills is hanging up the cleats.

Kyle Crabbs NFL National Writer
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Dane Jackson, right, consoles Taron Johnson after the Buffalo Bills' 24-22 loss to the Denver Broncos.
Dane Jackson, right, consoles Taron Johnson after the Buffalo Bills’ 24-22 loss to the Denver Broncos. Image via Jamie Germano/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

Former Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott certainly had his fair share of pet projects throughout the course of his time with the franchise.

But now that McDermott has been dismissed from his post in Buffalo, some of those former McDermott darlings are seeing their own magic run out. For the second time in three weeks, a prominent starter from McDermott’s Buffalo secondaries is reportedly calling it a career. Dane Jackson is reportedly retiring.

CB Dane Jackson becomes the second former Buffalo Bills cornerback to hang up the cleats in a few weeks

Jackson joins Levi Wallace as former Sean McDermott pet projects to call it a career this offseason. Wallace announced his retirement just under two weeks ago. And now, Jackson’s retirement is being reported as the league sees training camp doors swing open across the country.

Jackson came to the Buffalo Bills as a 7th-round draft choice in the 2020 NFL Draft. He, gradually, earned McDermott’s trust as a defender. His most impactful season in Buffalo came in 2022, when he started 14 games for Buffalo and logged two interceptions with an additional 12 passes defensed. That was Jackson’s third season in the NFL. In total, Jackson played five years in Buffalo — he posted 28 starts in 55 career games. When he left for Carolina in 2024, it marked the end of his productive play as a starter.

But Jackson did (technically) go out the way he started. As a Buffalo Bill. After one season in Carolina, he spent last year on the Bills’ practice squad and made several appearances in the regular season before being elevated to the active roster for the postseason. He’d signed a contract this offseason in Jacksonville, but retires before getting to suit up for the Jaguars.