Buffalo Bills President of Football Operations and General Manager Brandon Beane has continually churned the team’s roster this offseason, and that remained to be the case this afternoon at One Bills Drive.
Just one day removed from signing wide receiver Trent Sherfield, center Lloyd Cushenberry III, and center/guard Austin Corbett to one-year deals, which you can read about right here, Big Baller Beane’s other alter ego — Bargain Bin Beane — was back to business prior to punching the clock for the weekend as it was announced shortly after 11:30 a.m. ET that the Bills had re-signed veteran safety Damar Hamlin to a one-year deal.
Hamlin, a former sixth-round draft pick of the team in 2021 coming out of the University of Pittsburgh, is a fan favorite amongst many in Bills Mafia as the 6-foot, 200-pound defensive back is a true representation of what faith and determination are all about.
Initially diagnosed as an event of cardiac arrest, the defensive back collapsed on the field during a Monday Night Football game in Week 17 of the 2022 season against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium back on January 2, 2023, and it was eventually discovered that Hamlin experienced a Commotio Cordis episode on that fateful night, an extremely rare condition where cardiac rhythm is disrupted due to suffering a sudden blow to the chest.
If not treated immediately, the ailment can prove to be fatal in most cases, however, luckily for him, team doctors’ immediate response to the situation ultimately saved his life.
With that said, Hamlin did the unthinkable over the next several months following the incident, returning to the field in August of the same year while eventually managing to appear in five games that season — a true miracle.
The hard work hasn’t stopped since that time for the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, native, though, as he’s managed to play in 19 of 34 regular-season games from 2024 to 2025, while also adding three postseason starts to his name.
His best professional outing came in the 2024 campaign when he started all 14 games that he appeared in during the regular season, while making his starting debut in the postseason for those three previously aforementioned playoff games.
In that season, Hamlin tallied 89 tackles — the second-highest total of his career — along with registering five pass deflections, two tackles for loss, two interceptions, and one fumble recovery. His pair of interceptions marked the only two of his career thus far.
Named a first alternate for the 2025 Pro Bowl Games following that season’s success, the biggest play of his career arguably came against the Baltimore Ravens during the divisional round of the 2024 AFC playoffs at Highmark Stadium on January 19, 2025, when he sacked quarterback Lamar Jackson in the second quarter of that game and forced a fumble that former teammate Von Miller nearly returned for a scoop-and-score touchdown.
It was one the biggest moments in postseason history at Highmark Stadium as it helped propel the Bills past the Ravens, 27-25, en route to appearing in their second AFC title game this millennium.
Last season, however, wasn’t so kind to Hamlin as he managed to play in only five games total for the year with zero starts to his name after suffering a pectoral-muscle injury in practice that required season-ending surgery early on into the 2025 campaign.
He finished with just one tackle.
For his career, regular season and postseason combined, the former sixth-round draft pick has 203 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, nine pass deflections, four quarterback hits, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles.
The veteran safety will have yet another uphill battle to climb in 2026 as he rejoins a safety group that is a bit more crowded than when he left it at the beginning of the offseason, as he’ll now join the likes of Cole Bishop, Sam Franklin Jr., Jordan Hancock, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and Geno Stone in the reshaped room.
And, while it’s certainly not a given that he’ll actually be on the 53-man roster when September rolls around, people shouldn’t count the five-year veteran out.
An NFL locker room always has room for a player like Hamlin.
After all, the 2023 PFWA NFL Comeback Player of the Year and Ed Block Courage Award winner has beaten greater odds before.
As always, stay informed on all of the latest happenings at One Bills Drive by continuing to check the Buffalo Fambase blog as the months drag on toward the beginning of training camp at St. John Fisher University in July — we’ll have you covered!
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