Phillip Lindsay playing in XFL, willing to return to Broncos as a 'role player'

Apr. 26—Earlier this offseason, when Phillip Lindsay was out and about near his home in Centennial, he ran into plenty of Broncos fans. Many offered similar thoughts.

"They'll say, 'I wish Denver would get you back,' " Lindsay said.

The running back would be all for that. After going undrafted in 2018, the 5-foot-8 Denver-area native and former Colorado Buffaloes star rushed for 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons with the Broncos.

Not long after that, he was gone. Lindsay and his agent pushed for Denver after the 2020 season to rescind a restricted free-agent tender placed on him. The Broncos did that and he then had some uninspiring stints with Houston, Miami and Indianapolis.

Now, Lindsay is in the XFL with the Seattle Sea Dragons, who will face the D.C. Defenders in a playoff game Sunday. Lindsay is auditioning to get back to the NFL, and the Broncos are at the top of his list.

"I would love to come back to Denver," he told The Denver Gazette. "That would be a great storybook ending to a big-time fairy tale. I would be ecstatic. It would be a dream come true again."

Lindsay believes there could be a need for him on the Broncos, with starting running back Javonte Williams still recovering from a serious knee injury suffered last October. And he sees a team that could use another veteran back.

"I had my greatest years in Denver, and it would be great to be able to get an opportunity to finish off my career there," said Lindsay, 28, who said he wants to play at least two more NFL seasons. "I wouldn't be there trying to be a starter, a star. I just want to play my role and help win some games and bring something to Denver.

"At this point of my career, being a role player would be just fine with me, going in there and doing my part on special teams and bringing a spark when I can. Just being a great person and a great vet."

Lindsay said his agent Mike McCartney has reached out to the Broncos and been told they want to see how the NFL draft goes before making any possible additional moves at running back. The Broncos have five picks in the draft that runs Thursday through Saturday. They don't have a first- or a second-round selection and initially will be on the clock with selections No. 67 and 68 in Friday's third round.

There has been plenty of speculation the Broncos could draft a running back to provide depth with the uncertainty of when Williams will return. And general manager George Paton and coach Sean Payton both said that is a possibility.

The Broncos did sign in free agency running backs Samaje Perine and Tony Jones Jr. And they also have on the roster Tyler Badie, Damarea Crockett and Tyreik McAllister, young players who have combined for four career carries for 7 yards.

Even if the Broncos draft a running back, Lindsay believes he could be an asset to the team.

"It's very important to have a veteran presence, somebody you can lean on, talk to, share information," he said.

Ryan Harris, a Denver broadcaster who was an offensive lineman for the Broncos from 2007-10 and in 2015, would welcome Lindsay having a second stint with the team.

"For not only depth at running back, but he's a character guy in the locker room," Harris said. "He's going to work hard every day. I don't know if you're going to find a more beloved CU Buff than Phillip Lindsay. ... And he's one of the best ambassadors in the NFL and for undrafted guys."

For now, Lindsay is playing in the XFL, the spring league in its third incarnation. It had previously played a season in 2000 before ceasing operations and then another in 2020 before being shut down during the coronavirus pandemic.

Lindsay signed with the Sea Dragons on April 1. Splitting duty at running back after joining the team seven games into the season, he has 24 carries for 70 yards and a touchdown and three receptions for 8 yards in three games.

"I wanted to put some film out there and the only way you can get into football shape is playing football," he said. "So it was a good opportunity to get ready for the NFL season and kind of hit the ground running."

Lindsay said it was important to put his ego aside and sign a contract worth a standard XFL salary of about $7,000 a game.

"Sometimes you've got to put pride aside and look at a bigger picture," Lindsay said. "It's a chance to show that you're healthy and that you're explosive. A lot of people, they'd say, 'Oh, I've been in the NFL. I'm a Pro Bowler. I've been a 1,000-yard rusher. I'm too good for something.' But you can't sit here and put yourself on a pedestal. My mindset was that was in the past and I want to show that I'm willing to do this to be able to play in the NFL a couple more years."

And what a past it has been for Lindsay, who set a Denver Public Schools career rushing record at South High School with 4,587 yards and then set school records at Colorado for all-purpose yards (5,760) and yards from scrimmage (4,683). Due to being undersized, Lindsay went undrafted before being signed by his hometown team.

Lindsay rushed for 1,037 yards with the Broncos in 2018 and became the first undrafted rookie offensive player to make the Pro Bowl. He followed that with 1,011 yards in 2019.

"You couldn't write anything better," Lindsay said. "I did a lot of special stuff in Denver that nobody can ever take away from me. ... That's something I'm always going to look back at, the 1 percent that make it to the NFL, playing for my hometown team, and doing fairly well."

Lindsay missed five games in 2020 with Denver and rushed for 502 yards as Melvin Gordon took over the role of lead back. The Broncos in March 2021 tendered him at the lowest level as a restricted free agent, a one-year, $2.133 million deal. Lindsay's camp balked and the Broncos agreed to rescind the tender after signing free-agent running back Mike Boone.

Lindsay then signed a one-year, $3.25 million deal with the Texans, but it did not go well. He ran for just 130 yards in 10 games, with an average per carry of 2.5, before being released in November.

Lindsay then had short stints with the Dolphins to finish out 2021 and with the Colts in 2022. Since leaving Denver he has rushed for 298 yards with an average of 2.9 per attempt. In his three Broncos seasons, he had 2,550 yards with an average of 4.8 per carry.

"It was a business decision on both sides," Lindsay said. "Of course, I would have liked to have stayed in Denver, but it wasn't in the cards at the time. ... I'm not a guy that regrets things. At the end of the day, things happen for a reason."

Lindsay admits the past two years have been "very frustrating" bouncing from team to team. He said his statistics during that time aren't indicative of the type of player he believes he still is, saying it was hard to get into a rhythm getting so few carries and that he wasn't put in situations to take full advantage of his explosiveness.

Now, Lindsay is doing what he can to impress observers by playing in the XFL. Sunday's playoff game will be televisd nationally on ESPN.

"In the XFL, you're getting opportunities," he said. "You're on TV, you're practicing all the time. It can be a great feeder league to the NFL."

Or, in Lindsay's case, a resurrection league for the NFL.