When will Tyreek Hill get a new contract with KC Chiefs?

When will Tyreek Hill be getting a new contract with the Chiefs? You read that right. Tyreek Hill, not Tyrann Mathieu, whose contract saga has seemingly been the talk of the town all summer. But amidst the Mathieu back and forth—the will they, won’t they debate—the discussion a Tyreek Hill extension has been surprisingly quiet.

I remember sitting in a diner having breakfast back in 2018 when I got the notification that Hill had signed his first extension, a surprisingly modest three-year contract (added onto the one year he had left on his rookie deal). This came at the end of a very long summer for Hill, where many questioned whether or not the Chiefs would even keep him after the infamous recording surfaced.

At the time, Hill’s contract offer seemed to say, “You’re a great wide receiver, but can you stay out of trouble?” It gave the Chiefs an easy out if Hill couldn’t keep up his end of the bargain.

Tyreek Hill could be up for an extension sooner than later.

Hill certainly kept up his end of the deal by going on an absolute tear the past two seasons, and producing perhaps the most memorable play in Chiefs history by putting the sting in 2-3 Jet Chip Wasp. Want to watch it again? I did.

After having established himself as one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, Hill’s contract looks like an absolute steal, as with many of Veach’s contracts. However, it’s fair to wonder if Hill feels undervalued at this point. For reference, Bills star wide receiver Stefon Diggs signed his major contract a year before Hill and will have made nearly $20 million more by the end of this year, and could add another $30 million by the end of his deal a year after Tyreek’s extension ends.

Earlier this offseason when the Chiefs were restructuring deals, Hill also revealed that he turned down the opportunity to restructure his deal which was somewhat surprising given the nature of the Chief’s locker room when it comes to contracts—which is to be as team friendly as possible. That’s not to say Hill was breaking that mentality, but it was the most friction we’ve seen from a player in a while in terms of a contract. (And if that’s considered ‘friction’ I think the Chiefs locker room is probably in a great place.)

Outside of that comment, Hill hasn’t given any indication he’s unhappy with his contract, which is a good thing. But with just two years left on his current deal, it is fair to wonder if and when the Chiefs will extend him. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where Tyreek Hill isn’t catching passes from Patrick Mahomes, but after this year, Hill’s cap hit will be almost $20 million yet only $2 million of the Chiefs decide to cut bait.

Given Brett Veach’s history of star contracts, I think it is safe to assume that Hill’s contract extension will come next offseason, but I also wouldn’t rule out the Chiefs letting Hill play out the last year of his contract even with a hefty $20 million price tag. The NFL announced earlier this offseason that the 2022 salary cap ceiling will be $208 million. That number, if reached, will be great news for the Chiefs.

But just because the Chiefs could afford Hill that season doesn’t necessarily mean they want that to pay that much, and I’m guessing they will probably look to extend him for another couple years to bring his cap number down to the $15-17 million range, more in line with other top receivers.