Hill’s Chances Of A Return With Chiefs Are Going Downhill

The Kansas City Chiefs have been linked to former star receiver Tyreek Hill signing a reunion deal some time in the next few weeks, but then “reality set in,” per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, as Hill took the stand to testify on Thursday in the civil trial involving allegations of assault and battery. 

Hill’s ex-wife, Keeta Vaccaro, is seeking damages related to a series of ongoing incidents, and Florio cited a report from Xuan Thai of ESPN that had Hill admitting to pushing Vaccaro up against a wall hard enough to create a hole in it. 

Hill also admitted to threatening Vaccaro, and according to Florio the receiver said he was “deeply ashamed” of saying that he was “able to get people to hurt her.” Hill denied some of the other allegations that had him hitting Vaccaro, scratching her, spitting in her face, or trying to punch her in the stomach while she was pregnant. 

NFL investigators are taking notes. Hill is still the subject of an investigation related to the league’s Personal Conduct Policy related to the incidents, and while a judge may choose to exonerate Hill, per Florio, the NFL will make it’s own assessment based on its investigation, which is supposedly independent. 

The incidents date back to 2015, and the NFL “knows all about them,” Florio stated. Hill pled guilty to charges of domestic assault and battery by strangulation back then in an incident that with his then-pregnant girlfriend. There’s also another unresolved incident from back in 2019, the writer noted, that left Hill’s young son with a broken arm. 

Hill has put it out through his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, that he wants to sign an NFL contract, presumably with the Chiefs. As Florio noted, the timing of all this is strange, although it may have represent an effort by Rosenhaus to get out in front of the testimony, knowing how bad it was going to be.

The probability that theNFL will punish Hill seems high, and he would likely be suspended or banned for some period of time, with the opportunity for reinstatement after a year. That’s the highest punishment allowed under the Personal Conduct Policy, but it’s hard to tell if it’s in play at this point. 

As Florio noted in his conclusion, though, the list of teams willing to sign him is going to shrink with each public admission that comes out during the trial. The Chiefs are currently 4-0, and while they are rap sheet-friendly when it comes to players, it’s hard to imagine them signing Hill given his performance with the Miami Dolphins and the brutal injury that ended his tenure there.