The Dallas Cowboys added veteran wide receiver T.Y. Hilton on Monday, which appears to take the team out of the running for Odell Beckham Jr.
“The timing is right,” coach Mike McCarthy said Monday. “He’s ready to go. He’s an excellent addition, especially at this time of year.”
After spending the first 10 seasons of his career with the Indianapolis Colts, Hilton has been a free agent all season.
A third-round pick by the Colts in 2012 out of Florida International, Hilton caught 631 passes for 9,691 yards and 53 touchdowns and made the Pro Bowl four times in his time in Indianapolis.
His 9,691 career receiving yards ranks third in Colts history behind Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne.
Hilton was the top receiver for the Colts for most of his career, with a stretch of five 1,000-yard seasons in six years, including an NFL-leading 1,148 yards in 2016.
However, Hilton’s numbers have declined in recent years. He had just 23 catches for 331 yards and three scores last season, playing in only 10 games after missing the first five games because of a disk injury and missing two other games during the season because of a quadriceps injury and a concussion.
Injuries have been a big part of Hilton’s decline. After missing a total of just two games in his first six NFL seasons, he has missed 16 games over the last four seasons because of an assortment of injuries.
Still, with last season’s numbers, Hilton became one of just 15 NFL players in the Super Bowl era to have at least three touchdown catches in each of the first 10 seasons of his career.
Hilton’s addition bolsters a Dallas receiver corps that includes CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup, Noah Brown, James Washington, KaVontae Turpin, and Jalen Tolbert.
While the move for Hilton comes on the heels of speculation about the recruitment of receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who visited the team last Monday, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Sunday the team has not moved on from its courtship of Beckham.
However, Beckham Jr. may not be ready to play this regular season because of an ACL injury he suffered with the Los Angeles Rams in February’s Super Bowl.
