Chiefs Signing Tyreek Hill Prospects Hit Hard

The Kansas City Chiefs need more pass-catchers for quarterback Patrick Mahomes, but with longer wide receiver Tyreek Hill remaining available and unsigned by the team, a reunion is less likely.

Jonathan Jones of The Athletic updated Kansas City’s status at the major league position ahead of the league’s Nov. 10 trade deadline.

“We continue to keep an eye on the Chiefs and wide receivers,” Jones wrote on Saturday, Oct. 31. “There’s a clear need there, even with the hope that Tyquan Thornton will return for the playoffs (and even with the current possibility of signing Tyreek Hill).”

However, the Chiefs first contacted Hill a few weeks ago and have yet to add him to the roster, with no reports from anywhere around the NFL that a deal is imminent.

Tyreek Hill Could Face Suspension Upon NFL Return, Robbing Chiefs Of Incentive To Sign Wide Receiver

Kansas City does not have to ink Hill before the deadline because he is a free agent. However, he continues to recover from a serious leg injury he suffered early last season, while Hill is also fresh off 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 obviously there are all sorts of things off the field,” ESPN’s Ian Rapoport reported about the WR’s status within the Kansas City organization on Oct. 27.

Given his recent legal concerns and all 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 be too much for the Chiefs to deal with at this point.

There is also a reasonable chance the league could issue a suspension to Hill upon his return to the NFL due to the outcome of his latest domestic issues, even if they are civil and not criminal in nature.

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If Hill ends up with more headaches than he’s worth in Kansas City, he’ll likely play for the next month or so.

At some point, adding him to the mix doesn’t make much sense — for example, if Rashee Rice returns healthy from his hamstring issue and Thornton is nearing his return 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 ostensibly lessens the chances of Hill going to Kansas City, as Rice will surely be back sooner rather than later and there are only so many and so many roster spots to go.

Max Dible covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and statewide news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group’s family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible