Chiefs: A Possible Contract Extension for Tyreek Hill – The Kansas City Chiefs have stood by Hill through his off field problems earlier this year, which makes me believe that Hill has remained open and honest with the team. There was enough information released that shows Hill may not be guilty of everything he pled guilty to back in 2014, while a student at Oklahoma State. I have no intentions of rehashing the drama, most people have their minds made up and anything said or written isn’t going to change their view.
A Combination of Paying Hill and Protecting the Team
Regardless of one’s stance on the issue, from a football perspective, Hill has earned a high value contract extension. Even though we, as fans, will never know the full extent of the off field happenings in Hill’s world, I’m sure the Chiefs have a very solid idea and are comfortable enough with the outcome to this point, that they still intend to reward Hill for his play. However, since there is a history, it would behoove the Chiefs to provide themselves with some financial protection if there happens to be a negative action by Hill, or information that appears at some point in the future that would force the NFL to discipline Hill.
Looking at Wide Receiver Peers
One thing that is pretty much a constant in the NFL world of contracts, especially when it comes to the best of the best, it becomes a game of oneupmanship. The next player to get a contract has to have a larger overall value to his contract, or more guaranteed money, or a larger signing bonus, or any combination of ‘mines better than yours’. Even though Hill’s case and impending extension can be considered unique, it should have some comparable’s to other receivers. So I thought to make a comparison of the stats and contracts of a handful of WR’s that have signed top end deals lately.
Wide Receiving Stats
Since Tyreek Hill will be entering the 4th year of his rookie contract, I am using the first 3 seasons stats of his peers. The players I have chosen to use are:
DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Texans
Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Brandin Cooks, Los Angeles Rams
Odell Beckham, Jr., Cleveland Browns
Adam Thielen, Minnesota Vikings
Michael Thomas, New Orleans Saints
It needs to be noted that Odell Beckham Jr.’s first three years stats came as being a member of the New York Giants, and that Brandin Cooks first three seasons were with the New Orleans Saints.
Another note of interest, Adam Thielen, a 2013 UDFA, was used sparingly his first 3 years, but came on strong in 2017 and ’18 to earn a new contract.
While comparing stats has to be considered important, it still needs to be viewed with some objectivity. So many things can influence a players performance, such as team, scheme, QB play and the competition. With that stated, OBJ appears to be monsteresque, Hopkins and Evans have put up good numbers without always having good QB play. Thomas and Cooks have benefited from playing with one of the most accurate passers ever in Drew Brees.
Contemporary Contracts
This is just a brief overview of the aforementioned receivers contracts.
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- DeAndre Hopkins signed a 5Y/$81M extension with the Houston Texans in 2017, with $36.5M fully guaranteed at signing.
- Mike Evans signed a 5Y/$82.5M extension with the Tampa Bay Bucs in 2018. His contract had a guarantee of $38.258M at signing.
- Brandin Cooks signed a 5Y/$81M extension with the Rams in 2018, Cooks contract includes escalators that can increase the overall value to $88M. Cooks contract guaranteed him $20.459M at signing.
- Odell Beckham, Jr. signed a 5Y/$90M extension with the New York Giants in 2018 and was traded to the Cleveland Browns earlier this year. OBJ’s contract includes $5M in escalators and had $40.95M guaranteed at signing.
- Adam Thielen’s contract is a bit of an outlier, as he didn’t have the quick start to his career as the others. Thielen’s contract, signed in 2019, is 4y/$64.2M, with $14.1M fully guaranteed at signing.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Michael Thomas signed a 5Y/$96.25M extension with the Saints. Included are escalators that could allow the overall value of the contract to reach $100M. $36.54M was guaranteed at signing.
A Contract for Tyreek Hill
Since any contract extension between Hill and the Chiefs will be somewhat unique, and with the history involved, the contract should be written so that Hill gets the money he should, but also gives the team some financial protection in case Hill’s personal life has fuel thrown on any smoldering embers that might remain.
I would propose a contract extension for 5 years worth $91.5M, with a $10M signing bonus and $34.8M guaranteed at signing.
The makeup of the contract would be as follows:
The initial guarantee would include the 1st year base salary of $4M, plus $4.5M of the 2nd years base salary, the $10M signing bonus and the total of the RB, PGRB and WB of year one.
A Base Salary – of years 2-5 would be paid on the 3rd day of the league year, in the respective year.
A Workout Bonus – would be paid when Tyreek attends the organized team activities each year.
A Roster Bonus – would be paid on the 1st day of training camp as long as Tyreek is present and on time for each respective season.
A Per Game Roster Bonus (PGRB) – at $4M per year, would essentially pay $250,000 for each game that Tyreek is on the 46 man (or whatever number is relevant, if the league expands the roster) for each game. If the League decides to expand the season at some future date while this contract is still active, the PGRB would expand with the season.
The PGRB – for years 1 and 2 would be fully guaranteed against football related injury.
The PGRB – for year 3 would be guaranteed at 80% for football related injury.
The PGRB – for years 4 and 5 would be guaranteed at 60% for football related injury.
Four Incentives for More
In addition to the above Salaries and Bonuses, I added 4 incentives to my Hill Contract. These are all annual incentives that include:
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- $300,000 for reaching 88 receptions per season.
- $500,000 for reaching 1400 receiving yards per season.
- $500,000 for scoring 12 total touchdowns (receiving, rushing or returning combined).
- $500,000 for reaching 1840 all purpose yards per season.
- With the incentives included, this would give the contract an overall value of $100.5M
A contract for Tyreek Hill put together like this, being somewhat front loaded, will have modest cap hits through the final 3 years. This contract provides the Chiefs plenty of financial security and yet pays Hill as a top of the league receiver What do you think?.
Paul Pulley — ArrowheadOne
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