The Cleveland Browns have made it known that they intend to move on without RB Peyton Hillis next season. The two sides were unable to come anywhere close to reaching an agreement during the season the Browns will not use their franchise tag on an injury-prone running back.
Tony Grossi of the Cleveland Plain Dealer helps to illustrate this point further.
“Reportedly, Hillis was looking for $10 million in guarantees and the Browns were offering about $4 million,” writes Grossi notes.
Jamison Hensley of ESPN writes that Detroit Lions and the Washington Redskins could both be options for Hillis.
Of the two teams, you’d have to think that the Lions would make the most sense. Jahvid Best missed a good portion of the season with a serious head injury and rookie RB Mikel Leshoure was lost to an Achilles tear during the preseason so both players will have question marks surrounding them to start the season. Kevin Smith filled in pretty well for them but Detroit needs a bruising running back and that happens to be what Hillis excels at.
As for Washington, Mike Shanahan actually coached Hillis briefly while in Denver so he may have interest but I wouldn’t expect them to actively pursue him at price that was previous suggested. Roy Helu and Evan Royster both looked good and deserve more playing time. Adding Hillis would be nice but overpaying him is a mistake.
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