Damar Hamlin

Hamlin brings steady familiarity to a safety room with new faces and new schemes. He may not own the top role, but he has shown he can step into it and keep the defense organized.

Strengths: Experience, tackling, scheme familiarity, resilience and spot-start capability.

Weaknesses: 2025 pectoral injury ended his season and current depth-chart competition caps projected snaps.

Hamlin has proven he can step into a starting role—2024 brought 89 tackles, two picks and five breakups—but the pectoral injury cut last season to five games. Buffalo brought him back on a one-year deal because the experience and special-teams value still matter in a deep safety room. A five feels right: there is credible starter tape here, yet he needs a healthy season and a defined role to move back beyond useful depth.

Strengths: He is experienced in Buffalo's environment, has demonstrated tackling volume and can make a coverage play when given starting snaps. Hamlin also brings mature special-teams value and resilience.

Weaknesses: The 2025 pectoral injury cost most of the season, and the current safety group is crowded. He needs to regain top-end movement and show that the 2024 starting production was repeatable.