A little more than a year ago, Peyton Hillis was one of the best running backs in the league, finishing off a monster season with the Browns in which he racked up 1,177 yards and 11 touchdowns on 270 carries, earning a spot on the cover of Madden ’12 in the process.

Fast forward to this off-season.

Hillis found himself on the outside looking in at a possible return to Cleveland, thanks in large part to the poor level of production he had in an injury plagued 2011 campaign, and while he probably could have found a slightly larger deal had he waited a bit longer, the Pro Bowl runner has reportedly agreed to a one year contract with the Chiefs instead.

Such a deal gives Kansas City plenty of room to maneuver next year if Hillis is unable to return to the form he displayed two seasons ago, and allows for Hillis to potentially parlay this year’s production into a much larger deal next off-season.

Hillis will pair with fellow Pro Bowl running back Jamaal Charles, who is coming off ACL surgery last fall, to form a very solid duo in the Chiefs backfield capable of forcing defenses to pay extra attention to them and leaving Kansas City’s receivers isolated one-on-one.

As of right now, the Chiefs are still entertaining another running back as well in Mike Tolbert (Chargers), so it remains to be seen if they’re finished upgrading that position or if they’ll go for broke and have all three share the load next year.