Getty Bills running back Nyheim Hines rushes with the ball at Ford Field on November 24, 2022.
The Buffalo Bills are planning more steps to chip away at their salary cap burden, with an insider reporting that the team will be cutting ties with veteran running back Nyheim Hines in a move expected to free up close to $4.6 million.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on March 3 that the Bills planned to release Hines later in the week. The running back and kick return specialist missed the entire 2023 season after suffering a torn ACL in an offseason boating accident, but had expressed a desire to return to the team for the coming season.
The move leaves the Bills with a largely empty backfield, leading to speculation that the team will add another veteran through free agency.
Bills Working on Cap Deficit
The Bills were more than $40 million over the salary cap as the new league year approached, but have now created a bit more space with the expected release of Hines and a contract restructure for offensive lineman Connor McGovern that freed up close to $3.7 million of space.
Hines had faced an uncertain future with the Bills after his July accident, which left him with a season-ending injury. Afterward, Hines’ agent shared a cryptic post on X that appeared to call out the team for negotiations on what would happen to the running back’s salary.
“Adversity reveals character,” agent Ed Wasielewski wrote. “Everyone has a choice to treat others with respect and dignity. It’s revealing when an employee is injured to see how a company takes care of its own. I will continue to believe that people will do the right thing when bad things happen to their own.”
But Hines expressed later in the season that he hoped to come back to the Bills in 2024.
“They treated me right at the end of the day and they took care of it and I’m a member of the Buffalo Bills and I look forward to coming back there next year and earning the right to win,” he said in an interview with The Athletic.
Hines had one of the most memorable performances of the 2022 season, returning two kickoffs for touchdowns in a season-finale win over the New England Patriots. The emotional game took place just days after Damar Hamlin’s on-field collapse.
CHILLS.
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Bills Need Backfield Help
With Hines released, the Bills will be down to just one running back under contract for the coming season — third-year standout James Cook. The team brought in a trio of veterans to split carried behind Cook, but all three — Ty Johnson, Latavius Murray, and Leonard Fournette — are headed to free agency.
Matt Bove, sports director for Buffalo’s WKBW, predicted that the Bills could make a run at veteran Ezekiel Elliott, who he saw as an affordable addition for the cap-strapped team.
“I really think Ezekiel Elliott makes sense for the Buffalo Bills,” Bove said. “When you hear his name, I think you immediately go, ‘Why would the Bills spend big-time money on a running back out of his prime.’ He’s not going to cost you big-time money. I think Ezekiel Elliott could be had for $2, $3 million dollars a year.”