Bills to re-sign Hamlin. Buffalo also adds defensive tackle Ogunjobi to 1-year deal, AP source says

Safety Damar Hamlin is returning to Buffalo, and the Bills also continued restocking their defensive front by agreeing to sign tackle Larry Ogunjobi on Wednesday.

The Bills announced reaching an agreement to sign Hamlin to a one-year contract. A person with knowledge of the deal, meantime, confirmed Ogunjobi agreed to a one-year contract that includes $8 million in guaranteed money. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the agreement is not final until later in the day. NFL.com first reported the agreement.

Hamlin, a pending unrestricted free agent, returns to Buffalo after starting 14 games last season in continuing a remarkable comeback for a player who had a near-death experience two years ago. Hamlin chose to resume his career after he went into cardiac arrest and needed to be resuscitated on the field during a game at Cincinnati in January 2023.

The soon-to-be 27-year-old from the Pittsburgh area enters his fifth season in Buffalo and will be competing with second-year player Cole Bishop to stay in the starting lineup opposite returning veteran Taylor Rapp.

Hamlin had his first two career interceptions and 89 tackles for the Bills last season. A 2021 sixth-round pick out of the University of Pittsburgh, he has 27 starts in 48 games.

Ogunjobi meantime joins a retooled defensive line a day after Buffalo reached an agreement to sign pass rusher Joey Bosa to a one-year, $12.6 million contract. The Bills turned to Bosa, the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2016, after releasing veteran Von Miller on Sunday.

The 30-year-old Ogunjobi has eight seasons of NFL experience, including the past three in Pittsburgh, where he combined for six sacks in 48 games, 45 of them as a starter. He was cut by the Steelers on Monday in a salary cap-saving move, and was the team’s Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee last season.

Listed at 6-foot-3 and 305 pounds, Ogunjobi was selected by Cleveland in the third round of the 2017 draft out Charlotte, and played his first four NFL seasons with the Browns. He also spent the 2021 season in Cincinnati.

Overall, Ogunjobi has 27 1/2 sacks and 56 tackles for a loss in starting 108 of 124 appearances.

Buffalo previously bolstered its depth by adding running back Ty Johnson, fullback Reggie Gilliam, receiver Joshua Palmer and defensive lineman Michael Hoecht.

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AP Sports Writer Larry Lage contributed to this story.

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