The Indianapolis Colts brought back wideout TY Hilton this week, an intractable part of their past and future.
The deal was only for one year, $10 million, a far cry from the riches most of us were expecting Hilton to sign for — or, at least, the multi-year security.
According to Hilton himself, though, his desire to stay home and bond with Carson Wentz trumped his desire to jump ship for a bigger pay day this year.
Yes, even to a potential rival for the AFC crown with a great situation under center.
Much like JuJu Smith-Schuster before him, Hilton revealed on Thursday that he turned down a much larger offer from the Baltimore Ravens before locking things down in Indianapolis.
Colts fans should be very pleased, both at their own fortune and someone else’s pain.
From NFL Now: A look at how the #Colts ended up signing back WR TY Hilton, despite a huge offer from the #Ravens to get him to head to Baltimore. pic.twitter.com/lhvIkrCS8Z
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 25, 2021
The Colts re-signed TY Hilton, despite a Baltimore Ravens push.
Very interestingly in the video above, Ian Rapoport plainly states this gives Hilton an opportunity to be a Colt “for life”. Now, does he mean “opportunity” in the sense that this one-year deal doesn’t break his streak of only playing for the Colts? Or was he referring to the team’s actual intentions?
Whether Hilton continues to sign one-year contracts in Indianapolis year after year is one thing. What we do know is he became the latest star wideout in a growing line to look at a large check in Ravens colors, then turn around and head back to his former employer.
This all came down to Hilton’s generous last-minute offer to provide the Colts the dollar figures to match, which ultimately kept him in town.
As the wideout told Pat McAfee:
"“I was almost gone,” Hilton said.But Hilton noted earlier this month that the Colts wanted a chance to match any offer he received on the open market. Apparently Hilton connected with Indianapolis to make that happen, because at 2:51 p.m. he tweeted his confirmation that he was staying with the team that drafted him.“I’d been talking to [the Ravens] the whole time,” Hilton said. “They came in and made a great push at the end. They wanted to get it done.”"
In what will be a huge year for the development of Lamar Jackson coming off an impressive road playoff win, the Ravens may once again have to go to the draft — which, to be fair, is a place they’ve had a ton of success.
At least the city of Baltimore is taking it well!
Day’Ron Sharpe leaves UNC, TY Hilton turns down more money from the Ravens to stay in Indy. pic.twitter.com/0q3rYfPP83
— Jimmy’s Famous Seafood (@JimmysSeafood) March 24, 2021
What’s that? They aren’t? At all?
That’s a shame.
In summation, the eyeball emojis Hilton tweeted actually were worrisome and indicated his imminent departure, but everything after that was smooth sailing.
And with that, another AFC rival option bit the dust, clattering at Hilton’s feet as he sprinted away like so many defensive backs.
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