DONE DEAL: Bills Key Running Back is Headed to Browns on one -year Deal after Blockbuster Trade

Nyheim Hines, a former Buffalo Bills running back, has signed with the Cleveland Browns.

ESPN Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter was the first to report that Hines will sign “a one-year deal worth up to $3.5 million with the Browns, per sources.”

Hines first arrived in Orchard Park, New York as part of a trade deadline transaction with the Indianapolis Colts, which was orchestrated by general manager Brandon Beane. Beane sent running back Zack Moss and a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft to the Colts in exchange for Hines. When he arrived mid-season, it appeared that the squad failed to adequately integrate him into the offensive strategy. As a result, the dual-threat speedster finished with -3 yards on six rushes and one turnover, while also catching five passes (on nine targets) for 53 yards and one touchdown.

What Hines did extraordinarily well at times was inject life into the team’s kickoff return game. Most notably, Hines returned two kickoffs to the house in Buffalo’s 2022 Week 18 victory over the New England Patriots. His first touchdown occurred on a 96-yard return on the game’s first kickoff, marking the team’s first play (and score) since safety Damar Hamlin suffered a shocking on-field cardiac collapse against the Cincinnati Bengals in week 17. With the battered Patriots leading 17-13 late in the third quarter, Hines fielded the New England kickoff in his own end zone and ran 101 yards to score again, putting the Bills ahead for good.

Hines was unable to play during his second season with Buffalo due to an offseason jet ski injury that resulted in a severe knee injury, which cost him the whole 2023 NFL season. So, Hines’ time with the Bills came to an end, leaving supporters wondering “what could have been, if only” after his release last week. Nyheim Hines will now strive to prove his knee is healthy by playing for the Cleveland Browns in the 2024 NFL season.