KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill has agreed to a new three-year contract with the team.
NBC Sports' Pro Football Talk reports the deal is worth $54 million, with $35 million guaranteed. It would tie him as the second-highest paid receiver in the league.
The Chiefs tweeted the deal Friday morning.
We have signed WR Tyreek Hill to contract extension.
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) September 6, 2019
If the decision were based strictly on football, Hill may have received an even bigger contract with a higher annual salary and more guaranteed money over a longer term.
Some NFL insiders expected a possible Hill extension to approach the record deal signed July 31 by New Orleans wide receiver Michael Thomas, who ended his holdout after signing a five-year deal worth $100 million.
Instead, Hill spent most of a tumultuous offseason away from the Chiefs during a nearly three-month suspension amid a child abuse investigation in Johnson County.
Kansas City resumed negotiations with Hill, who is entering the final year of his rookie contract, after the NFL decided not to suspend the Pro Bowl receiver and All-Pro return specialist.
In a statement, General Manager Brett Veach said the organization is glad Hill will remain in a Chiefs jersey. The uniform comes with expectations, Veach said.
“He understands our expectations of him as a member of this team and community. This extension is contingent upon the conditions Tyreek agreed to adhere to upon his return to the team in July. Tyreek is an elite player in this league and has played a major role in our team’s success, and we’re pleased that he’ll continue to make an impact for us," Veach said.
Hill said he's grateful to continue his career in Kansas City.
“Kansas City is my home, and I appreciate the love and support from Clark Hunt, Coach Reid and Brett Veach, along with my coaches and teammates. To Chiefs Kingdom, you’re the best fans in the world," Hill said in the statement.
Since the Chiefs drafted him in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft out of West Alabama, he’s established himself as one of the NFL’s premier deep threats.
Hill has emerged as a star during his first three seasons with 223 receptions for 3,255 yards and 25 touchdowns.
He’s also rushed for four touchdowns, returned four punts for touchdowns and returned a kickoff for a touchdown during that span.
Hill ranks 17th in the league in receptions, 11th in receiving yards and tied for fourth in receiving touchdowns since entering the NFL. His fourth punt return TDs are the most in the NFL since 2016.
Hill’s 10.02 yards per target rank third in the NFL during the last three seasons behind only Seattle’s Tyler Lockett (10.23) and Atlanta’s Julio Jones (10.13).
Of course, his selection by the Chiefs touched off a firestorm.
After playing at Garden City (Kansas) Community College, Hill transferred to Oklahoma State and was a budding star for the Cowboys before his December 2014 arrest for domestic violence.
He was dismissed from the team and eventually pleaded guilty to assaulting his then-pregnant girlfriend, Crystal Espinal. The guilty plea was expunged from his record last summer.
She gave birth to their now 3-year-old son in 2015, and the couple reportedly became engaged in late 2018 after Espinal became pregnant with twins.
Overland Park police visited Hill and Espinal’s residence twice in March as part of an investigation into allegations of child abuse, regarding the 3-year-old’s broken arm.
Hill was not charged and will not face suspension as a result of the months-long investigation, which included the temporary removal of the child from parental custody as part of an ongoing Kansas Department of Children and Families investigation.
Hill was suspended from team activities in late April after a secretly recorded conversation between Espinal and Hill about the child’s injury and other topics became public.
The full audio, which wasn’t made public until June, provided additional context to the conversation during which Hill can be heard telling Espinal she should be “terrified” of him and calling her a “dumb bitch.”
Hill, who was reinstated by the Chiefs after the NFL announced it wouldn’t suspend him, spoke with reporters Sunday at training camp for the first time since reports of the police investigation surfaced.
Near the end of the seven-minute interview, he addressed the way he spoke to Espinal in the recording.
“I’m just here to man up to what I did on the audio,” Hill said. “My bad language — I’m going to man up to that. I don’t want anybody talking to my little sister, my daughter that I have now, my mom like that. That’s very disrespectful.”
Hill also explained how he’s trying to move past the incident.
“I’m working every day to be a better father, better person, better citizen, better teammate and better son, too,” Hill said.
