The Browns opened Hines’ 21-day return window three weeks ago but could not get to a point where they felt comfortable activating him from the PUP list. The veteran running back who missed all of 2023 due to an accident involving a jet ski will now miss the remainder of the 2024 season due to the same injury. Hines signed a one-year deal with the Browns this offseason. He’ll be 28 next year and should have plenty of chances to resume his playing career in 2025.

Hines is working his way back from the PUP list after suffering a torn ACL last summer while with the Bills. The veteran running back/kick returner will be joining a crowded backfield if/when he returns, as Nick Chubb (knee) also saw his return window open this week. Hines is unlikely to have any legitimate fantasy upside this season.

Hines has not played football since the 2022 NFL season, after tearing an ACL in a jet skiing accident during the summer of 2023. Fantasy managers in desperate need of a PPR RB option could stash Hines on benches, though his abnormally long recovery timeline suggests he is unlikely to earn a role in the Browns’ backfield quickly.

Hines, who injured his knee in a jet ski accident in 2023, is still working his way back to full health and will miss the first four weeks of the regular season, and possibly more. Hines and Nick Chubb will remain on the PUP list while Jerome Ford and D’Onta Foreman will be the Browns’ top two backs to start the season. Ford, who last year had more than 1,100 total yards following Chubb’s injury, figures to be the lead back for now.