Hamlin back on one-year deal

[Casey D]

28 minutes ago, Simon said:

His game took a fairly impressive leap forward this year.

He's a weak spot as a starter but I'm very happy the Bills kept him around as quality depth.

Agree.  And just letting go seems like a horrible PR move if he had no great offers.

[NeverOutNick]

5 minutes ago, Logic said:

I truly believe that Damar's cardiac arrest incident forever clouded many people's ability to evaluate his on-field play in a clear-headed way. 

No, I don't believe Damar Hamlin is a high level NFL starter. Yes, I DO believe that he constitutes good depth, provides a baseline level of acceptable play when he's on the field, and is a great fit in the locker room and the community. 

Every team in the NFL rosters backups that aren't high level starters but can contribute and play useful football. Damar Hamlin is one of those, but to hear some people tell it, he belongs nowhere near an NFL field. 

Do I want him penciled in as starter? Nope. Do I think he can get you out of a three-week stretch with minimal negative fallout if your starer goes down? Yep, absolutely.

I think the emotionality, the politics, the super weird "he's a Make-a-Wish player" argument...all of it...shrouds many people's opinions in emotionality that they can't shake off, and doesn't allow them to respond to or evaluate Damar THE PLAYER in a reasonable way.

I will die on this hill.

You’re wrong. It has nothing to do with what happened to him. He’s an awful safety that can’t cover and is consistently out of place leaving our corners on islands. No team with any decent talent evaluating FO was going to sign him so he wasn’t a priority and doesn’t need to be on our team anymore. He may be a great guy but we’re trying to win football games and McD and Beane don’t seem to get that sometimes 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

26 minutes ago, MasterStrategist said:

Love Hamlin, but sincerely hope he isn't our starter this season.

 

Hamlin is quality backup, Rapp is a borderline starter.  Still think we need to grab another FA to compete, and hope Bishop steps up.

 

He wasn't supposed to be the starter last year but bishop missed all of camp, which is especially important for a rookie trying to learn a new defense.  Edwards also was in and out of practice for most of camp.  I think he started atop the depth chart simply because new players need to earn their playing time, and neither was healthy enough to capably push him down the depth chart. 

 

Hamlin didn't play particularly well, but when bishop was first put on the field he made some critical mistakes which you really can't have.  I also feel like he got a bad rep for majority of the season, while he mostly just put his head down and played fine.  

[NoSaint]

34 minutes ago, KentuckyBillsFan said:

Yeah I'm just ready to move on from Hamlin and see what the draft offers at this point. We need more upside players on our defense.

and we still may move on if the draft offers something. 
 

we set a floor not a ceiling here

[jlgarsh]

I thought he was pretty good last year. If he keeps improving, all the better. If not, he's great depth and has starting experience

[Jimmy Harris 69]

Mr. Average.

[Never NEVER Give-up]

I still think he got screwed on the Comeback Player of the Year award after the 2023 season! (Flacco)

I think the NFL agreed when they made him a nominee for the same award after the 2024 season. (Burrow)

[Captain Hindsight]

7 minutes ago, Casey D said:

Agree.  And just letting go seems like a horrible PR move if he had no great offers.

I can promise you with 100% certainty that the Bills are not concerned about Hamlin leaving in FA for PR.

 

He's back because he's a solid player with experience in the system, coming off his best season as a pro

[MasterStrategist]

1 minute ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

He wasn't supposed to be the starter last year but bishop missed all of camp, which is especially important for a rookie trying to learn a new defense.  Edwards also was in and out of practice for most of camp.  I think he started atop the depth chart simply because new players need to earn their playing time, and neither was healthy enough to capably push him down the depth chart. 

 

Hamlin didn't play particularly well, but when bishop was first put on the field he made some critical mistakes which you really can't have.  I also feel like he got a bad rep for majority of the season, while he mostly just put his head down and played fine.  

Yeah no argument with any of that.

 

I'm confident in Bishop improving, but time will tell how much.  We've had some players thrive after year 1 and some squander/never reach potential.

 

Point being, I really was hoping for a proven/impactful safety.

 

Rapp is our best safety now, that's not good enough IMO.  If Bishop take a huge leap, the perspective changes.

 

This is similar to MLB with Bernard a cpl years ago.  Need Bishop to rise up and be a playmaker.

 

We have given out next to nothing for our safety room, draft capital and cap.  Maybe McD truly thinks he can get by with that, but it's a dramatic difference vs our Poyer/Hyde combo.  I thought they'd at least try and find another FA to bring in.

[Warriorspikes51]

Backup? Great

 

Starter? No thanks

[ColoradoBills]

Having Hamlin compete for a depth spot is OK with me.

[biggerdaddynj]

Does keeping Hamlin mean we’re not taking a shot at a safety in the draft (a free safety in the draft with one of our day 3 picks—a Malachi Moore, etc).  Have a draftee on a rookie deal always helps.
 

I admire Hamlin and wish him nothing but the best.  However, we really need to be more athletic/dynamic on the back end of our defense and I don’t think Hamlin has shown he provides that. 

Edited 7 hours ago by biggerdaddynj

[Einstein]

52 minutes ago, boyst said:

he's not as bad as people say but we could certainly get better at the position. He does not make mistakes. He is a micah Hyde light.

He’s worse than people and makes mistakes constantly.

 

Horrible angles, missed tackles, poor adjustment to passes, etc.

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

All I can think of is he's the insurance and they plan to draft another safety. They like to go into the draft with the ability to draft any position that falls their way-like Safety.

[BBMB Poster]

I love this.  He is such an inspiration.  I hope he can continue to ascend as a player.

[Bruffalo]

3 minutes ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

Backup? Great

 

Starter? No thanks

100% hard agree here.

 

He does not have the athletic skillset to be a successful long term starter in a McDermott defense. If we can shore up everything else around him he's serviceable, but that's not exactly a ringing endorsement. 

[MasterStrategist]

Just now, biggerdaddynj said:

Does keeping Hamlin mean we’re not taking a shot at a safety in the draft or FA (like taking a free safety in the draft with one of our day 3 picks—a Malachi Moore, etc).
 

I admire Hamlin and wish him nothing but the best.  However, we really need to be more athletic/dynamic on the back end of our defense and I don’t think Hamlin has shown he provides that. 

I still think Epps or Blackmon are options.

 

Just like LY, we brought in Edwards to compete-that ultimately failed due to injury/other reasons.

 

Epps is a concern coming off ACL, but he's a very good player when healthy.  We had interest in Blackmon LY, that could go one of two ways depending on how that final conversation unfolded.

[oldmanfan]

Good depth.  Rapp and Bishop are starters.  If the kid from Georgia or South Carolina is there at 30 I can see drafting one high.

[Lagoon Blues]

Huge offseason for Bishop.  It will be super interesting to see how he looks once camp gets rolling.

Edited 7 hours ago by Lagoon Blues

[Solomon Grundy]

Beane and McDermott with the loyalty BS!!