The two longest-tenured players on the Indianapolis Colts roster are both contemplating the idea of retirement this offseason.
Both staples in the offense for the better part of the last decade, wide receiver T.Y. Hilton and tight end Jack Doyle have gotten to a point in their respective careers where the idea of hanging up the spikes grows stronger with each passing season.
For Doyle, who has been with the Colts since 2013, the punishment that the game of football doles out takes a toll. Though it’s no guarantee he retires, it’s one of the reasons why 2021 could be his last in the league.
“I’ve just been banged up. It’s been tough – tough on my body, tough on me just in general. It’s tough to play football and it’s tough to get out there every week,” Doyle said Monday to the media. “It’s kind of taken a toll. Like I said, I’ll take some time to think about it and obviously talk to people close to me and we’ll go from there.”
Doyle is under contract through the 2022 season so there will be slight implications. If he retires, the Colts will hold a dead cap of $750,000 while saving $5.45 million in salary-cap space, according to Over The Cap.
Doyle had a reduced role in the passing game during the 2021 season. He saw 43 targets for 29 receptions, 302 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. He still played 57.8% of the offensive snaps, which led tight ends on the roster.
As for Hilton, he appears to be more of a 50/50 toss up when it comes to retiring. He mentioned earlier in the season that he contemplated it after suffering a neck injury during the preseason.
With the regular season over, Hilton will now take some time to again revisit the idea of hanging up the spikes.
“I’m going to take some time, talk to Jack [Doyle], and, you know, just go through if I want to play one more year, I can play one more year. If not, then I won’t,” Hilton said Sunday. “So just talk to him, see what he’s feeling. And once he makes his decision, I’ll kind of know what I want to do kind of based on him, whether it’s here, whether it’s somewhere else. So, I’ll make my decision sometime in the offseason.”
Hilton isn’t under contract for 2022 but there could be slight salary-cap implications. The Colts restructured Hilton’s one-year contract mid-season to free up $2.3 million in salary-cap space by adding a voided year for 2022.
That means even if Hilton does retire, there will be a $2.3 million dead-cap hit in 2022.
The Ghost has been an incredible leader in the wide receiver room but between injuries and Michael Pittman Jr. taking over as the alpha, the production wasn’t there for the veteran wideout.
In 10 games (nine starts), Hilton caught 23 of 37 targets for 331 yards and three touchdowns.
Whatever happens with their decisions, both players will go down as highly-respected members of the organization.
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