Damar Hamlin’s place in the Bills roster is ‘not guaranteed’ despite last year’s on-field incident, claims NFL Insider

Damar Hamlin has fully recovered from the cardiac surgery he had back in January.

Damar Hamlin’s place in the Bills roster is ‘not guaranteed’ despite last year’s on-field incident, claims NFL Insider

Damar Hamlin (Image via Getty Images)

The Buffalo Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin‘s story is one of the most inspiring stories in recent times. He has successfully recovered from the cardiac surgery he had back in January and is looking to resume his football career. However, the NFL insider Jay Skurski shockingly claims Hamlin might not make it into the 53-man roster.

“My opinion is Hamlin will want to be treated like any other player, meaning he’ll need to earn a spot on the 53-man roster the same way his teammates will,” wrote Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News.

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Furthermore, Skurski also claims that since the Bills have a good depth in the defensive backs position, Hamlin would have to fight hard to even secure a spot as a rotational piece in the Bills’ secondary unit.

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“It’s possible Hamlin is competing for just one spot if we assume [Jordan] Poyer, Micah Hyde, and [Taylor] Rapp are the top three. That means he’ll need to beat out Zayne Anderson, Dean Marlowe, and Jared Mayden,” claims Skurski.

Skurski believes the Bills won’t be worried about the negative PR if they didn’t automatically select Hamlin to their 53-man roster. The Buffalo-based football team will evaluate Hamlin “solely as a football player” according to the insider. Besides, that’s what Hamlin would want too.

Earlier this year, the young safety suffered a cardiac arrest during the Bills‘ regular season matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2022 regular season. Hamlin spent multiple weeks at hospitals and is now fully recovered and cleared to play professional football. He has already begun training with the Bills and is a betting favorite to win the Comeback Player of the Year award.

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Damar Hamlin is favorite to bag the CPOY award in the upcoming season

Damar Hamlin SI
Damar Hamlin (Image via SI)

The Bills safety Damar Hamlin is not even guaranteed to make the 53-man roster for the upcoming season. However, the defensive back is already the betting favorite to win the CPOY award for the 2023 regular season.

The reason is Hamlin is coming back from an unthinkable incident. Hamlin collapsed on the field back on January 2 and had to be resuscitated on the gridiron before he could be transferred to a hospital.

Most people thought Hamlin’s football career was over, but miraculously, the safety has been fully cleared by medical professionals to play football again. He is expected to become a rotational piece in the Bills’ defensive backfield.

Even if Hamlin ends up having just an average season, he would still rightfully win the CPOY award. Apart from him, the Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa, the Los Angeles Rams WR Cooper Kupp, and the Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson are also in line to bag the prestigious award.

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