Buffalo Bills bring back Damar Hamlin on 1-year deal for 2026 season

Damar Hamlin is back with the only NFL team he's ever known.

The Buffalo Bills signed the safety to a one-year deal Friday, March 27, the team said.

The 28-year-old played the 2025 season on a one-year deal with Buffalo but was limited to five games due to a pectoral injury suffered in practice that ended his season and required surgery.

Hamlin suffered a cardiac incident in January 2023 during Monday Night Football" against the Cincinnati Bengals and was resuscitated on the field. He made a complete recovery and played in five games the next season, which helped him finish second in NFL Comeback Player of the Year voting. A sixth-round pick (212th overall) in 2021, Hamlin started all 14 games in which he played the next season and logged the first two interceptions of his career.

Since his cardiac incident - diagnosed as commotio cordis, which is rare and often fatal cardiac arrest caused by blunt force - Hamlin has worked with the American Heart Association and lawmakers to train students and staff at schools across the United States in CPR and AED use, purchase AEDs for schools and youth organizations and develop and implement emergency action plans.

Hamlin's biggest career highlight came in the 2024 AFC divisional round when he strip-sacked Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and had a team-high eight tackles in a Bills' victory.

The Bills also added safeties Geno Stone and C.J. Gardner-Johnson earlier this offseason.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Damar Hamlin contract details: Bills sign safety for 2026 NFL season