Bills' $60,060,000 OT gets his wish granted after advocating for NFL's Protector of the Year

Dion Dawkins of the Buffalo Bills got his wish granted by the NFL, which approved the introduction of a new award for offensive linemen. Months after saying playmakers such as quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs got all the love when it came to awards and suggested a prize for those who make those plays possible, the league approved to debut the award next season. It'll be known as the Protector of the Year prize and will be decided by a panel featuring former outstanding linemen.

The $60,060,000 offensive tackle shared the news on X, thanking the NFL for taking his suggestion seriously and coming up with an actual award for his colleagues.

"Protector of the Year is official. Thank you, we got it done," Dawkins posted.

Former Super Bowl champion Andrew Whitworth also supported this idea. The analyst will be included in the panel that will decide the winners, too.

Besides the "tush pun" staying alive and the Detroit Lions withdrawing their proposal to change the playoffs format, this decision was one of the biggest of the day in the Spring League Meeting in Minnesota.

With many talented players in this position, the debate about who would be the first recipient of the award should be entertaining.

The NFL credits Bills' Dion Dawkins for his idea for the new award

Dion Dawkins may have signed his name in the history books with the introduction of the Protector of the Year award. The league's executive vice president of football operations, Troy Vincent, credited the Bills veteran with the idea.

"I'm going to give credit to Dion Dawkins from Buffalo," Vincent said, per Nick Shook of Around the NFL. "He was truly instrumental, him and Andrew Whitworth, of just making sure that we recognize the big fellas. LeCharles Bentley, Jason Kelce, Shaun O'Hara, Orlando Pace, Will Shields and Andrew Whitworth will be the panel. ... They've come up with a criteria on skills, metrics, impact, leadership, durability and strength of the opponent. We'll be tracking that quarterly with this group."

The Bills have made headlines in recent times. Josh Allen won the 2024 MVP award, they were named the team that will participate in the offseason edition of "Hard Knocks," and now Dawkins gets the recognition for floating an award idea to celebrate linemen.

It seems that they are entering the 2025 season with many reasons to feel motivated. Only time will tell if this is the season they can finally win the Super Bowl.