A Tyreek Hill reunion in Kansas City has been hovering out there for months, and the football case for it only got louder after the Chiefs traded for Josh Downs from the Indianapolis Colts on Tuesday. Even with that move, Kansas City still needs help at receiver, and the free agent market is basically the last place left to shop.
Hill is still available, too, while he works back from the serious knee injury he suffered in September last year. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said he expects Hill to be medically cleared in the coming weeks and that he has been “ working the phones ” to find a home for his client.
So yes, the fit is obvious. The Chiefs need a receiver.
Hill needs a team. He knows Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, Eric Bieniemy and the offense from his six seasons in Kansas City.
With Tyquan Thornton out injured for the foreseeable future, Hill would give the Chiefs the deep threat they’re missing, and he’s the kind of player who can punish man coverage and create the kind of explosive plays this offense has lacked.
But the injury history is impossible to ignore. Hill tore his ACL and multiple other ligaments and dislocated his kneecap in that ugly Week 4 incident last season, which ended up being his final game for the Dolphins.
In July, Hill said he had “no power” in his injured left leg 10 months after surgery. That recovery has had time to move forward since then, but it still leaves a real question about whether he can get all the way back to the level he once played at.
There’s also the possibility that this turns into another L'Jarius Sneed situation. Sneed came back to Kansas City after an injury ended his run with his former team, and his return has been uneven.
He was excellent against the Denver Broncos in Week 1, but PFF ranked him as the Chiefs’ worst player against the Indianapolis Colts and the Seattle Seahawks, and he has missed the last two games. Hill is three years older than Sneed at 32, so the risk of getting flashes without consistent availability feels very real.
Even then, the bigger issue goes beyond the roster. The signing of Justin Tucker last month changed the way this has to be looked at.
Hill was found liable for two counts of battery by a civil court jury in October, including for an incident in which he allegedly put his hands around his partner’s throat and grabbed and twisted her breasts. The same jury found him not liable for eight other claims.
That should be enough to stop the conversation right there, but Kansas City has been here before. In 2015, Hill pleaded guilty to domestic assault and battery by strangulation involving his then-pregnant girlfriend, and the Chiefs still drafted him eight months later.
That was a bad call then. Bringing him back now would be worse.
Hill would make the Chiefs better on the field, and maybe even give them a better shot at another Super Bowl run. But the off-field reality matters more than that.
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