According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the Bills’ safety, Damar Hamlin will be paid in full for his contract despite being out of action thanks to a near-fatal injury on the field last week during the Bills’ game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
That is a surprise because Hamlin’s contract contains an industry-normal split in which he would not receive the full amount if injured, but rather a fraction (about half) of the amount he would earn if he is placed on Injured Reserve, which he is thanks to the injury.
However, the Bills apparently negotiated a deal with the NFL and the NFLPA (National Football League Player’s Association) to pay Hamlin the full amount he would have otherwise earned for the year despite his injury and status as a player on injured reserve. Rapoport, discussing that situation on Twitter, said:
#Bills S Damar Hamlin’s 4-year, $3.64M contract contains a standard split to pay him at a lower rate if he lands on Injured Reserve. This week, he was placed on IR. However, sources say Buffalo has worked out an agreement with the NFL and NFLPA to pay him in full.
Damar Hamlin was set to earn $825K in 2022. His split rate if he’s on Injured Reserve is $455K. Placed on IR this week, that’s a difference of $20,555.56. Buffalo worked it out so he’ll receive the whole thing, even though he’s not on the active roster.
Though that was good news for Hamlin, people on Twitter were largely negative about the situation, saying things like:
“So if he had tore his ACL instead of had a cardiac event then the team would be like “Fuck you here’s half your paycheck”. What a heartwarming story….”
“The nfl players really need a better union. He played the vast majority of the season but he would have taken a roughly 50 percent pay cut for the yr for missing the last game of the season?”
“Great, now if only there was a way to do this for all players… y’know like… idk guaranteed contracts in case of injury or something? But, protecting players would actually have to be the most important thing in that case, and not just a tag line you throw out with no action.”
“Player salaries shouldn’t be slashed if they’re hurt on the job. They need to fix how IR interacts with salary caps. Players shouldn’t get screwed for getting hurt. No one else in the economy that I can think of takes a pay cut if they get injured doing their job.”
Some, however, remained positive and noted that the Hamlin story had put the NFL in something of a different light. One commenter, making that point, said:
“The NFL over the last couple years had alienated me with their woke nonsense. Damar’s story is an uplifting one. Despite what the Colin Kapernicks of the world think, we are the “human” race. I pray for Damar and his family as do most people. Bears fan by birth, let’s go Bills!”
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