Peyton Hillis

Hopefully this is good news
"turn his career around".....like he went on some crazy binge. He missed a game because of the flu and had a nagging hamstring injury....which he kept reinjuring because of coming back too soon, and he kept coming back too soon because of all the negative press from the one incident. He still led his team in rushing, which makes him his team's leading rusher 3 out of the last 4 years.

F##K Cleveland......hope Peyton lands in New England or Green Bay.....wouldn't it be fun to watch the thunder and lightening of Hillis and Woodhead

Nah those teams wouldn't play him that much. Especially the Patriots. There seems to be a rule about having only one White skill position player getting a bunch of playing time. Woodhead has barely seen time with Welker getting a ton of snaps at receiver. I think its the reason why Edelman isn't used on offense as much, he showed promise, but his game is more as an outside receiver, and I think he would be much better than Branch at this point. I think 2010 was the exception to the rule for the Patriots with Welker not at 100 percent and not able to get the yac coming back from the knee injury. I am just hoping Woodhead's role increases at this point.

Nelson is already a part time player, I imagine with a White tailback his role would decrease with the way the Packers have been going since the Superbowl win.

If the Bengals would actually use him it would be an ideal situation. They have managed to make Benson look like a feature back. Hillis would dominate on that team, especially now with Dalton and the passing game. Of course this might mean less time for Shipley.

Maybe the 49ers. Gore is on his last leg (or knee). They have a run heavy offense and Harbaugh let Gerhart carry the rock. I know his team has been mostly black but I am not sure who is making all of the roster descions over there.

The Chiefs would be good to pair him up with Jamaal Charles (who may not be 100 percent after the knee injury). He and Thomas Jones both had 1k the other year, running in that division is a little easier.

Broncos would also be a nice choice, but a White dual threat qb and a White tailback might be too much for fans, as well as a White receiver in Decker.

Miami wouldn't be a bad place, they got 1k out of Reggie Bush and Daniel Thomas is nothing special. Brian Hartline is barely targeted so I don't think it would affect much.

The Redskins don't have anyone special. The best thing Shanahan could say about Helu is that "he is not a tough guy but handled the pounding of the NFL" and that they plan on using multiple guys next year, which basically means they don't have one special player.

The Colts have been in desperate need for a runningback for a while. If Luck falls there and Hillis winds up there that would be great. I wonder how much it would affect Collie.

I've been watching and listening to all of the free agency hoopla this afternoon.....but haven't heard a single word about which teams may be interested in Hillis. Has anyone heard any rumors about Peyton's future?

I'm unaware of any team speaking to him. Only bloggers suggesting where he might be a good fit.
I don't know how these things usually progress, though (free agency dealings with media coverage), so maybe he's been on the phone with several teams. His trouble with agents has likely put him behind schedule, though.

Edit: Immediately after posting, I checked twitter for news. The Giants, Steelers, and Buccaneers are all interviewing Peyton. He interviewed with the Steelers today.

Riddlewire said:

I'm unaware of any team speaking to him. Only bloggers suggesting where he might be a good fit.
I don't know how these things usually progress, though (free agency dealings with media coverage), so maybe he's been on the phone with several teams. His trouble with agents has likely put him behind schedule, though.

Edit: Immediately after posting, I checked twitter for news. The Giants, Steelers, and Buccaneers are all interviewing Peyton. He interviewed with the Steelers today.

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It would be nice to see Hillis on a playoff contender.

He's also meeting with the Chiefs.

IMO, the best place for Peyton would be back in Cleveland. We've all seen that he gets better the more carries he gets. He's at his best at the end of games. But any other team that picks him up will only want to use him in a heavy rotation or as a goal line/short yardage back only. As lousy as Cleveland is, they do seem to prefer a "main guy" and Peyton has proven that he can perform for them, even with that horrible line and play calling.

Btw,
Unlike the twitter-love that Tebow generally gets, Peyton is almost universally reviled on Twitter. Coordinated media campaigns can permanently ruin someone's reputation in just a few weeks.

Well, according to the folks at USA Today, he's the 36th best free agent available this offseason. The top 25 are ALL affletes, with the exception of Peyton Manning and Matt Flynn

Here is the link: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2012/03/usa-todays-top-50-nfl-free-agents/1

@Riddlewire: I agree with you that the best place for Peyton is back in Cleveland. He has a fan base there....although a lot of the DWFs there have bought into the media campaign against him. He would be the starter in Cleveland.....the worst case scenario is he goes to another team as "short yardage and goal line" backup to some affrolete who immediately hates him and demands more carries (see Peterson/Gerhart situation). I saw an article today that had him going to the Eagles to back up "Shady".....that would be a complete disaster with all the black players teaming up against Hillis getting carries. In Green Bay or New England that would not happen either. So I'm hoping Cleveland, New England or Green Bay.

Just went to a KC Chiefs forum where the reaction to Hillis meeting with their FO was luke warm at best.....one post said "he has attitude problems and had a bad season last year"...LOL. I don't hear anyone saying that Andre Johnson "had a bad season last year" because he missed most of the year with hamstring problems.....its constantly an uphill battle folks.

FootballDad said:

Well, according to the folks at USA Today, he's the 36th best free agent available this offseason. The top 25 are ALL affletes, with the exception of Peyton Manning and Matt Flynn

Here is the link: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2012/03/usa-todays-top-50-nfl-free-agents/1

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Well at least he was ranked 2nd best RB available,only player ahead of him was Michael Bush.WTF second to MICHAEL BUSH?

To give him a little credit Bush is a decent player but could never land a starting spot unless McFadden is injured.Guess he is glad of the AR RB injury curse.

Looks like Cleveland's media really screwed Hillis this year.

Great news!
Peyton Hillis leaves Browns for fresh start with Chiefs
He reunites with Daboli who worked with him during his 2010 season. Plus the only NFL caliber back is Jamaal Charles, however they have never been sold on him being the feature back, I think they have been concerned about injuries, he is 6'1 but 190 pounds. In 2010 he had 190 carries with a washed up Larry Johnson getting 130 carries. In 2010 an older Thomas Jones got 245 to his 230. And in 2011 it started off the same, Charles had only 10 carries the first game before getting injured the second. I think with all of the crap that happened this is best case scenario for him, splitting carries. With Charles coming off of a knee injury he could see the role Thomas Jones had in 2010. Its an easy division to run in, but I am not sure about the line they have.

I don't think staying with Browns would have been a good idea, they were going to find a way to screw him over, they didn't want him there. So lets hope for at least 200 carries. The Chiefs could have the best runningback duo in the league.

The Chiefs were one of the best teams for him to land with considering all of the lies that were spread about him not being a team player/selfish/primadonna. Daboli worked with him for a year and knows that he is a team player. Lets just hope hes not so much of a team player that he is letting the other backs steal carries away from him.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000...-start-with-chiefs?module=HP11_headline_stack

Hillis definitely needed a fresh start, let's hope he's treated respectfully in KC instead of endlessly maligned and smeared like he was by the Holmgren regime and its puppets in the local media.

Don Wassall said:

Hillis definitely needed a fresh start, let's hope he's treated respectfully in KC instead of endlessly maligned and smeared like he was by the Holmgren regime and its puppets in the local media.

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Things might be luke warm at best to start off in KC he only signed a 1 year deal for a "mere" 3 million. That sounds like the type of contract that a 30+ year old veteran gets when the club doesn't know whether he still has fresh legs.......http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7...nsas-city-chiefs-peyton-hillis-agree-contract

Hillis needs another monster year to get a longer term deal after the constant media character assassination over the last year.

With RG3 no longer an option for the Browns, they're probably going to draft that RB from the Tide and Hillis would have been the backup or FB so it's better for him to be in KC!

Well, he probably chose the best place to actually get touches to showcase that 2010 wasn't a fluke (even though he did it in Denver and still did decent last year with the nagging hamstring). 3 million isn't bad and even if he only gets 150 carries he will show that he has value in the league.

My guess is that he will get around 220 carries, crack 1k, show that he is elite, want a long term contract and the Chiefs organization wanting him to prove that it wasn't another "fluke"..."just one more year of this type of production and we will lock you up" and then go through the same situation as the Browns.

I think Daboli has faith in him but probably sees him as a Brandon Jacobs type back (except he can catch). The playcalling in 2010 got a little too predictable at times going up the gut constantly when he excels on toss plays and stretch plays as well, any play where you have a pullling guard and he goes more to the outside. Then again I am not sure how much final say Daboli had in the plays even though he was technically the coordinator.

Steinbach was great at pulling, hopefully the Chiefs have someone who is as well. I didn't watch them that much last year so I don't know. I only paid attention in 2010 with Weiss as the coordinator, he had great run blocking schemes. 6 lineman power football.

I think the fact that Dabol is in Kansas City had a great deal to do with Peyton's decision.....let's face it, he's been hung out to dry by the media over the last year. He's been portrayed as a locker room cancer and malcontent....followed up with the "CIA" he's crazy BS. Its Matt Jones all over again....and Matt and Peyton can't come out and say what's really going on. I'm sure Hillis is just looking for some place where people already believe in him and he doesn't have to "prove himself" over and over again. Kansas City has a fairly white fan base, so hopefully this will work out. I rarely see the Chiefs on TV here in the ATL....does anyone have a breakdown on the team's white talent?

Getting out of the AFC North helps. Baltimore and Pittsburgh are always among the toughest run defenses, and Cincy's was much stouter last year.

This is a big year for Matt Cassel. He needs to become elite in 2012 or he may find himself a backup, if he even starts again this year. Having Hillis in the backfield as a running and receiving threat who also can block should help in that regard.

It would hardly be surprising if the Chiefs also sign Tolbert, given how cheaply they got Hillis.

Free agent RB Mike Tolbert is still visiting the Chiefs after Wednesday's Peyton Hillis signing. Whereas Hillis managed just the one-year contract, Tolbert would be more of a long-term investment. Multiple reports suggest Tolbert has enough teams interest that he won't limit his playing time in Kansas City.

Well ideally I would have loved for Hillis to land in Green Bay, but kudos to him for at least escaping the clutches of that evil fat walrus.

I live in Chiefs territory, sad to say most of the fans are under the delusion that Jamaal Charles is a "top 10 back". If Crennel swallows this too, Peyton's touches could be pretty limited. As for white talent, Ricky Stanzi is all that comes to mind and he's buried on the depth chart.

Welcome to the board, Gangrel. I will say that Charles was one of the few RBs to live up to the hype before he got injured. He averaged 5.9 yards per run in 2009 and 6.4 in '10, very impressive. In 2010 he was averaging about 15 rushes a game, which would leave about 10 for Hillis, McCluster and whoever else they may have, if they use him that way again. But given what happened to him last season the Chiefs are more likely to give him 10 to 12 touches this season if he's healthy. And some RBs never bounce back from severe knee injuries. If their offense turns out to be as good as some are predicting, Hillis may get to average 10 carries a game, maybe more in lopsided ones. If he can run for at least 800 yards as part of a RBBC and average at least 4.5 per run, he should have decent leverage for a good contract next year.

Unless the Hillis curse continues this is the end of Peyton Hillis as a top back. A small contract in a small market behind one of the top backs in the game?

Charles expects to get all the carries all of the time. He's not a "committee" type back and how is Peyton going to get over 1K yards splitting carries with a guy that gets 200 touches and 1K yards a year? What other team is that happening on????

This is Mike Alstott territory for Hillis, it's the same ol' thing so many white skill players have to do in the NFL, sign with somebody, collect the money and sit on the bench until it's time to move on to a broadcasting gig. It's accepted by the rest of the league that you are not a number one guy.

How odd! A quality white back on the same team as one of the top backs in the game, whenever does that happen?

When you consider all of the teams that are in real need of a running back and Hillis ends up behind one of the best.?!?

If the fans clamor for Hardesty when you get stuffed a couple of times imagine what will happen with Charles waiting on the bench?

A slug like Garcon signs for 42 million and a former 1k/year guy like Hillis signs for 3 mil? Man the NFL sucks!!!

jaxvid said:

Unless the Hillis curse continues this is the end of Peyton Hillis as a top back. A small contract in a small market behind one of the top backs in the game?

Charles expects to get all the carries all of the time. He's not a "committee" type back and how is Peyton going to get over 1K yards splitting carries with a guy that gets 200 touches and 1K yards a year? What other team is that happening on????

This is Mike Alstott territory for Hillis, it's the same ol' thing so many white skill players have to do in the NFL, sign with somebody, collect the money and sit on the bench until it's time to move on to a broadcasting gig. It's accepted by the rest of the league that you are not a number one guy.

How odd! A quality white back on the same team as one of the top backs in the game, whenever does that happen?

When you consider all of the teams that are in real need of a running back and Hillis ends up behind one of the best.?!?

If the fans clamor for Hardesty when you get stuffed a couple of times imagine what will happen with Charles waiting on the bench?

A slug like Garcon signs for 42 million and a former 1k/year guy like Hillis signs for 3 mil? Man the NFL sucks!!!

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Charles is not a feature back, he has been a commitee type back. He did get 1k for 2 years straight but he had 5.9 ypc and 6.4 ypc. In 2009 he got 190 carries with Larry Johnson getting 130 something (Larry Johnson was washed up by Charles' rookie season and was the team's leading rusher with a smaller ypc than Charles and even worse the year he got 130). The year he got 230 carries, Thomas Jones got 245 averaging almost half of what Charles was averaging. Its obvious they don't see him as being able to take the pounding of ton of carries. 2011 started off no different, the first game when he was healthy he had 10 carries. He is also coming off of a knee injury, so I can see him getting 8 to 14 carries (14 on the high side) a game, that is when he excels. He does have an elite skillset but he is not a top back. He is like 6'1 but 190 pounds. Somehow his height has shrunk to 5'11 over the past few years and his weight ballooned up to 199 but at the combine he was 6'1 and around 194, and 190 back at his pro day. If he did have about 15 to 20 pounds added with the same skillset he would be a top ten back. Just look at how skinny he is. If he had the frame to get even 250+ carries they would have done it by now because Thomas Jones and Larry Johnson were nothing special the two years Charles split carries with them.

If a washed up Larry Johnson can split carries and an old Thomas Jones on his last legs can get more carries, then there is no reason for Hillis to get more carries with Charles coming off a knee injury. Speed/quickness is his game and there is no telling how it will affect him. Now Hillis might get less receptions but I wouldn't doubt that he gets at least 200 carries. Even the most pass happy teams like the Saints and the Packers had around 400 rushes. The Chiefs had 450+ attempts last year, 520+ attempts the year before. This will be a perfect duo and no reason to get down about things. Charles is a glorified 3rd down back and even if he winds up with the most carries it will still be no more than 60/40. We just have to be optomistic that the 40 percent goes to Hillis. They were still intent on Thomas Jones who had 100+ carries last year with 3.1 ypc and Dexter McCluster who has been average might steal some away as well, but his touches might have been out of need last year, as he looks to be a poor version of Charles, smaller and slower

I can see Hillis averaging 4.8 to 5.2 ypc in the AFC West, and if he averages 13 carries a game he has a good shot to break 1k rushing. I think it is a guarantee to get 1k from scrimmage. Hillis did have other teams interested and the Chiefs were probably the most likely to give him the most touches.