After being out of football for the entire 2007 NFL season, former Browns safety Justin Hamilton is back in the league after signing with the Washington Redskins Friday. Hamilton was drafted by the Browns in the seventh round of the 2006 draft, and it was somewhat of a surprise when we waived him. The initial reason for waiving him was because he had an alleged injury, thus the reason he was paid an injury settlement.
But, that still begs the question I've been wondering since last season: why not just put Hamilton on the injured reserve list (although his injury didn't seem to merit such a long absence)? Hamilton played in ten games during his rookie season, recording 15 tackles. The numbers don't seem like anything special, but it appeared as though Hamilton was playing like a quality backup. Of all the people we cut last season, I still don't believe we received a clear-cut answer as to why he was let go.
Further adding to my curiosity is the fact that we didn't bring him in for another tryout this season. With the reports that both Mike Adams and Brodney Pool could be seeing some time at cornerback in training camp, Hamilton could have been an insurance policy at the backup safety position if Gary Baxter can't come back full force.