The Bills plan to honor safety Damar Hamlin with a series of tributes Sunday in the aftermath of his on-field medical emergency in Monday’s game against the Bengals. But apart from symbolic gestures, the franchise plans to take care of the 24-year-old financially by paying his salary in full for the remainder of the season, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Hamlin–who is currently in the second year of his four-year, $3.64 million rookie contract–has a standard split in his deal that agrees to pay him a lower rate if he lands on injured reserve. Though the Bills opted to place him on IR earlier this week, Buffalo worked out an agreement with the NFL and NFLPA to pay him his full contracted amount for the Week 18 game.
Essentially, Hamlin was set to earn $825,000 for the 2022 season, with his split amount on injured reserve being $455,000. For one week spent on IR, that’s a difference in pay of $20,555.56, but the team decided to award Hamlin his full salary, even though he won’t be on the active roster.
Hamlin has been recovering at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center after he collapsed on the field during the first quarter of Monday night in Cincinnati. He was administered CPR on the field and transported to the hospital, where he was sedated and treated in the intensive care unit.
Since then, Hamlin’s condition has gradually improved. He woke up Wednesday night, and the Bills since have said he is “neurologically intact.” Doctors then removed Hamlin’s breathing tube overnight on Thursday, allowing him to talk and FaceTime with his teammates on Friday morning.
Hamlin posted on social media on Saturday in his first public comments since the terrifying events of Monday evening.
“When you put real love out into the world it comes back to you 3x’s as much,” Hamlin wrote on Instagram. “I’m thankful for every single person that prayed for me and reached out. We brung the world back together behind this. If you know me you know this only gone make me stronger. On a long road keep praying for me!”
In the latest update Saturday, the Bills announced that Hamlin remains in critical condition but continues to make progress in his recovery. According to Rapoport, he is expected to watch Buffalo’s game against New England from his hospital bed as the team seeks to claim the No. 2 playoff seed in the AFC.
