The Kansas City Chiefs need more pass-catchers for quarterback Patrick Mahomes, but the longer wide receiver Tyreek Hill remains available and unsigned by the team, the less likely a reunion becomes.
Jonathan Jones of The Athletic updated Kansas City’s status in the key position group ahead of the league’s November 10 trade deadline.
“We’re still keeping a close watch on the Chiefs and wide receivers,” Jones wrote on Saturday, October 31. “There’s a clear need there, even with the hope that Tyquan Thornton will be back for the playoffs (and even with the ever-present possibility of signing Tyreek Hill).”
However, the Chiefs made first contact with Hill weeks ago and have yet to add him to the roster, with no reporting from anywhere around the NFL that a deal is imminent.
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Kansas City doesn’t have to ink Hill ahead of the deadline because he is a free agent. However, he continues to rehabilitate from a serious leg injury he sustained early last season, while Hill is also fresh off of more domestic issues that played out in a courtroom in mid-October.
A judge found Hill liable in civil court on two counts of battery involving his estranged wife, Lakeeta Vaccaro. The court awarded Vaccaro $500,000 in the decision.
“Tyreek Hill is not healthy enough, and there’s obviously all the off-field stuff,” Ian Rapoport of ESPN reported of the WR’s status inside the Kansas City organization as of October 27.
Given his recent legal concerns and all of the scrutiny that Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs is under after domestic issues of his own and three new accusers emerging on Saturday, the heat of signing Hill could simply be too much for the Chiefs to take on at this point.
There is also a reasonable chance that the league might issue Hill a suspension upon his return to the NFL given the outcome of his most recent domestic issues, even though they were civil and not criminal in nature.
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Whether Hill will be more of a headache than he’s worth to Kansas City is likely to play out over the next month or so.
At some point, adding him to the mix won’t make as much sense — for instance, if Rashee Rice is back healthy from his hamstring issue and Thornton is on the verge of returning from his ankle dislocation as the regular season draws to a close.
Making a trade for a player like Brian Thomas Jr. of the Jacksonville Jaguars or Jauan Jennings of the Minnesota Vikings in the next week or so also ostensibly lowers the chances that Hill ultimately ends up in Kansas City, as Rice will definitely be back sooner than later and there is only so much many and so many roster spots to go around.
Tyreek Hill’s Prospects of Signing With Chiefs Take Serious Hit