INDIANAPOLIS – Back during the 2020 season, T.Y. Hilton said he wanted to sign one more contract with the Colts and then retire.
Well, the 31-year-old Hilton has signed that additional contract, but it was only for one year.
So how does that impact a potential retirement after this 2021 season, Hilton’s 10th in the NFL.
“We’ll see how it goes,” Hilton said on Thursday, after officially returning to the Colts.
Hilton added that a potential retirement will depend on how his body feels, but also wanting to watch his kids play sports.
While that decision for Hilton is on the back burner for now, his most recent one saw him turn down a multi-year offer from Baltimore to say with the Colts.
“I wanted to stay here,” Hilton said. “I didn’t want to go anywhere else. I wanted to stay here, no matter what the cost was. I gave up a lot of money to stay here and that’s what I wanted to do.”
Throughout the free agency process—the first of Hilton’s career—The Ghost leaned heavily on former teammate Reggie Wayne.
Hilton said Wayne wasn’t pushing him down one particular path, but was a needed sounding board during all the uncertainty.
“Reggie helped me weigh the pros, the cons,” Hilton said. “I thank God for him. He’s a big bro to me. And he was there through it all. He helped me through everything, all the way through the last minute. He was calling, texting, calling and he helped me make the right decision.
“Whenever I needed him, he was always there for me, no matter what. He helped me break down a lot of situations that led to this.”
Another person that Hilton heard from a lot during his time on the open market was his (now) quarterback, Carson Wentz.
“We’ve been talking since we got him here,” Hilton said of Wentz. “He just wanted to be able to play football with me. We are constantly texting and he was always there throughout free agency, ‘I hope we can get you here. I want you to stay here. I want to be able to throw passes with you.’
“I look forward to it and it should be fun.”
Since Andrew Luck’s retirement in 2019, Hilton’s numbers have dipped a bit with Jacoby Brissett and Philip Rivers.
But Hilton seems pretty bullish on Wentz’s arrival helping him out.
“(Wentz) has some Andrew Luck traits,” Hilton says. “He can get out of the pocket, can make the incredible throws. He’s a special talent, especially when he’s standing up in the pocket delivering throws. His ability to avoid guys and make plays with his legs is always there.
“He can really push me to the next limit.”
Will that limit have Hilton playing past the 2021 season?
That remains to be seen.
