Nyheim Hines In Contract Dispute With Bills Following Jet Ski Accident

The Buffalo Bills and Nyheim Hines are at odds about how much money the running back should be paid in 2023.

After suffering a torn ACL on a jet ski, Hines will miss the entire season. So the question now becomes: How much money are the Bills required to pay him?

The 26-year-old reworked his contract in March — agreeing to a two-year, $9 million deal. Hines would have made $2.56 million this season, but his non-football injury makes the contract voidable.

Nyheim Hines appeared in nine games for the Buffalo Bills in 2022. (Photo by Bryan Bennett/Getty Images)

Hines has received $600,000 of his $1 million signing bonus. But the Bills have proposed withholding the remaining $400,000, plus an additional $100,000 workout bonus Hines earned.

According to Pro Football Talk, the Bills are willing to pay Hines $289,000 this season — the maximum salary for a practice squad player.

If Hines does not accept that offer, Buffalo could seek the $1.5 million signing bonus allotment from his previous contract with the Indianapolis Colts. But that could lead to a formal grievance from Hines' camp.

Nyheim Hines Sustains Non-Football Injury

Hines was sitting stationary on a jet ski when another rider struck him — causing a serious but not life-threatening injury.

But it's normal for NFL teams to prohibit players from certain off-the-field activities.

According to Buffalo News, Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver's recently-signed contract includes a paragraph that bans activities which "involve a significant risk of personal injury and are non-football in nature."

Those activities "shall include, but shall not be limited to skydiving, hang-gliding, mountain climbing, racing of any kind, use of motorcycles, use of any off-road vehicle, firearms, scuba diving and snow or water skiing."

(Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images)

But Hines' signing bonus addendum does not explicitly identify jet skiing as a prohibited activity, according to PFT.

And his agent, Ed Wasielewski, believes the Bills should pay up.

"Adversity reveals character. Everyone has a choice to treat others with respect and dignity," Wasielewski tweeted Wednesday.

"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."

The Indianapolis Colts selected Nyheim Hines in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. The Bills acquired him in a mid-season trade in 2022.

Hines gained hero status in Week 18 as the first Bills player ever to return two kickoffs for touchdowns in a single game.

He remains under contract in Buffalo through 2024.