Getty Damar Hamlin looks on during a Buffalo Bills preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts.
The Buffalo Bills have found their answer at safety after the departures of Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde this offseason, and it’s a player who some insiders predicted would miss the final roster this year.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott confirmed on September 4 that fourth-year safety Damar Hamlin would be starting in the team’s season opener September 8 against the Arizona Cardinals. Veteran Taylor Rapp had already been locked in as the other safety, and Hamlin won the other spot after a strong performance throughout training camp and the preseason.
Sean McDermott Shares Praise for Damar Hamlin
Sunday’s start will be the first for Hamlin since the team’s Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals on January 2, 2023, when he suffered cardiac arrest on the field after a hard hit to the chest. McDermott praised Hamlin and the work he put in over the last two years to return to his previous form.
“What else can’t this young man do,” McDermott said, via ESPN. “It’s one thing to come back off of an ACL or a broken bone. It’s another thing to come back off of what he came back off of, right? Let alone just to decide to play football and contact football, right, and full pads at the NFL level. I don’t think I need to say anything more. I mean, it’s incredible.”
Hamlin’s spot in the starting lineup was not a surprise to fans following the team closely during the summer, as the 26-year-old was listed as a starter on the team’s official depth charts and played with the first string throughout training camp. But some predicted that Hamlin would be on the wrong side of the roster bubble at the final cutdown.
The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia predicted that Hamlin would be fighting for his job this summer, suggesting that the team could attempt to trade him to recoup some of his value.
“Hamlin looks like he’s on the outside looking in on the roster this year,” Buscaglia wrote in May. “The Bills’ trading him at some point before the season would not be a surprise, either.”
Bills Get Good News on Rookie Safety
Hamlin had been competing for the starting job with second-round rookie Cole Bishop and free agent acquisition Mike Edwards. Both Bishop and Edwards missed long stretches of training camp due to injuries, giving Hamlin the opportunity to play with the starting defense and ultimately seize the job.
The Bills appear to be on track to have Bishop ready for the season opener. The team listed him as a full participant in the first injury report released on September 4, and he was seen going through drills at full speed.
S Cole Bishop (shoulder) was termed a full participant by HC Sean McDermott before Wednesday’s practice. Here he is on the field and out of the red non-contact jersey #Bills #BillsMafia
The Bills have a void to fill on defense after parting ways with a number of key players from recent years. They released Poyer and allowed Hyde to leave in free agency, though he has entertained the idea of returning for one more season. The Bills also released All-Pro cornerback Tre’Davious White and lost linebacker Matt Milano to a torn bicep.
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Bills HC Makes Surprise Announcement for Team’s Starting Safety