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.
