For nine years, NFL teams futilely attempted to piece together a broken mold: A Greek god-bodied, rocket-armed, Einstein-brained, sprinters-speed, position-less player who was as likely to line up at quarterback, receiver and tight end, as he was to play fullback and punt protector, as he was to rush the punter, return kickoffs and block for kickoff returns.

"Everyone the last few years has been chasing, 'Let's find the next Taysom,'" Saints Coach Kellen Moore said Thursday. "There's just one Taysom."

That one — Taysom Hill — announced Wednesday via a social media post that while he's unsure about his NFL future, he would not be returning to the Saints. Hill's thank-you post ended a Saints playing career that often touched mythological proportions between 2017, when the Saints signed the undrafted rookie after he was released by the Packers on the final training camp cut, until 2025, when he returned to play 13 games after tearing his ACL and suffering other knee ligament damage in 2024.

He is the only player in NFL history with 1,000 yards passing (2,426), rushing (2,551) and receiving (1,034), and he's one of four in league history with 10 touchdowns passing (12), rushing (34) and receiving (11).

Hill played 118 games with 54 starts, all with New Orleans.

"Taysom is one of the best people you'll ever meet in this world," Moore said. "He's a phenomenal person, player, competitor. For him to come back from that injury the previous season was incredible. He's had so much success in this community playing for the Saints and the impact he's had on this community has been awesome. He's a guy that a lot of our guys can look to as an example of growing in the NFL and finding roles and finding opportunities."

Hill, a college quarterback at BYU, initially earned his way onto the field covering kickoffs in '17. That morphed into use at kick returner, kick return blocker, receiver, punt protector, quarterback, tight end and punt rusher.

Like Hill, Juwan Johnson, an undrafted rookie in 2020, also changed positions in the NFL. But Johnson's evolution, from receiver to tight end, was less complex.

"I think being a quarterback definitely helps," Johnson said. "You understand everything. You understand where a guy is supposed to be, you understand concepts, you understand the feel of where the quarterback wants you, and I think feel like that's one of the biggest things. Because he taught me a lot of where I was supposed to be."

Johnson said he learned verbiage and that being around Hill possibly was the best thing for him.

"He's been such a blessing to everybody in the community and really a blessing to me as well," he said. "Just the way that he went about his day; even just the little things about him not knowing where he would be. At the start of the week he'd be, 'I'm going to be a receiver, I'm going to be a tight end, quarterback.' But he never complained, and that's one of the things that I've always valued about his character, is that he never complained. He just did what he was supposed to do. It didn't matter to him, he just wanted to get the job done. He did everything 110 percent."

Linebacker Kaden Elliss played with and against Hill, as a Saint (2019-22) and as a Falcon (2023-25). And Hill was a matchup nightmare.

"When he comes in, you have to have all these different personnel cards because it may be an 11 personnel with Taysom," Elliss said. "Now, he might be the quarterback; now we've got to say it's Joker 11, he's the quarterback, something funky is about to happen. He might be one of the receivers and there's another tight end in, which you could call 12 personnel. They might run 12 personnel plays. They could run 21 personnel plays, (because) he's lined up at fullback.

"That was the hardest part about it. And then you add on top of it — because there's a lot of body types you can do that with in the NFL, they just can't do it the way he did. When they touch the rock they're not a threat to go 60 yards for a touchdown or throw it 60 yards for a touchdown. Matching the personnel — it cuts out a lot of your playbook. It takes a lot of time to practice and practice. And then when he gets the ball, it's a whole other issue."

It made Hill the top unicorn in a league of top-notch athletes.

"So special," Elliss said. "His IQ was unbelievable. To play quarterback in the National Football League is unbelievable. And to be able to do it — to process it, make the plays, is awesome and special.

"And then also, you can take 99 percent of the quarterbacks that ever played in the NFL and, although they may be the greatest athletes on the field...to be able to get their bodies to do a punt block, kickoff return, block on kickoff return, to block as a tight end, to run a route as a tight end, to have the body control to adjust in the air – to do all those things, that's one of one. Maybe there'll be another one one day, but I don't see it any time soon because that was really, really special. The man he is, is even more special."

An update on Bryan Bresee

Moore did not have an update on defensive tackle Bryan Bresee on Thursday. Bresee left Wednesday's practice, the first day of training camp, with a possible ACL tear.

"It was looking that way," Moore said. "I haven't gotten the finalized (report). I know they're getting a second opinion and all that stuff right now.

"It's tough. Bryan had played some really good football last year and had a great offseason. It's a bummer for him; at the same time, there's going to be some opportunities for some other guys. They've just got to be ready to rock and roll and that's what all training camps are about."