Indianapolis Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton has one season left on his current contract and as he awaits a new deal, he already has plans to hang up the spikes following his next contract.
Though it isn’t clear yet what that next deal will look like and if it will even come from the Colts—odds say it will be—but Hilton told reporters this week on a Zoom conference call that he plans on retiring after the expiration of his new deal, however long that may be.
“I mean whatever I sign for in my next contract, that’ll be when I hang it up. Whether it’s two years, three years, four years – whatever it is,” Hilton said. “Whatever I sign for in my next contract, that’ll be it for me.”
Turning 31 years old during the 2020 season, Hilton is already hitting that age where wide receivers begin to decline. He hasn’t shown any signs of that in terms of production, although his recent bout with injuries does raise some eyebrows.
Even with that, Hilton has been the focal point of the offense and will continue to be so as long as he’s with the Colts. The Ghost is still an electric talent who can make big plays with the ball in his hands and even though his 2019 season was cut short, there’s a lot of optimism for 2020.
With Philip Rivers under center for at least this upcoming season, Hilton should find plenty of opportunities to produce as the leader in the passing offense.
About those contract talks, there hasn’t been much of anything between Hilton and the Colts outside of preliminary discussions.
“We’ve had a few talks, but then the virus thing happened. So kind of let everybody just go their ways with their families and spend time with them,” Hilton said. “So, I mean whenever things pick back up, I’m pretty sure hopefully we could get something done. If not, then like I said, it’s up to Mr. (Jim) Irsay and Chris (Ballard). I mean I want to be here. So it is what it is.”
It will be interesting to see what the next contract for Hilton looks like, but it appears there won’t be any news on that front until the pandemic is through.
