The Kansas City Chiefs clawed out a 30-27 win against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday to improve to 4-0 on the season. But walking out of Allegiant Stadium, you wouldn’t know the team was undefeated. Patrick Mahomes’ receiver room got wrecked in a matter of quarters – Rashee Rice clocked out early with a hamstring tweak, and late in the fourth, Tyquan Thornton went down with a nasty dislocated ankle right after reeling in a 55-yard deep ball. This sudden collapse of receiver depth has opened the door for the one signing everyone in the Chiefs Kingdom have been tracking all offseason – Tyreek Hill.

On Monday, October 5th, Tyreek’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, went on record with ESPN’s Adam Schefter to announce that Hill is officially cleared, done with his knee rehab, and actively seeking contract offers.

“Developing: Tyreek Hill’s agent Drew Rosenhaus said he plans to begin negotiating a deal for his veteran wide receiver with multiple teams today,” Schefter wrote on X. “One of those teams is the Chiefs, who have maintained contact with Hill. ‘I would anticipate Tyreek potentially signing with a team over the next few days,’ Rosenhaus said.”

Now, Hill has been stoking the fire of reunion online for quite some time. A couple of weeks ago, he teased that he was ready for “some cold weather.” Then on Sunday night, right around the time reports revealed medical personnel had to reset Thornton’s ankle in the locker room, Hill dropped a two-letter post on X: “hm.” If the goal was to set off alarms across the AFC West, it worked.

But this isn’t about sentimental feelings from 2019. General manager Brett Veach has kept a line open to Hill since the Miami Dolphins parted ways with him in February. As The Athletic’s Mike Silver reports, that interest kicked into high gear once the Chiefs realized they’d lost Thornton for an extended time and Rice was going to miss time as well.

“In the wake of those injuries, the Chiefs have already reached out to Hill’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, to express their interest,” Silver wrote. “They’d have to be satisfied with the receiver’s recovery, but there would likely be no other obstacles on the organization’s end. His tenure in Kansas City ended on reasonably good terms, and people inside the organization believe he would fit in well with the current team.”

Before going down their injuries, through four weeks, Rice and Thornton had combined for 409 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 14 first downs. Thornton, for one, was averaging 19.9 yards per catch and became a real receiving weapon for Patrick Mahomes. Back when Hill wore red and gold, he could wreck the defensive gameplan by himself, leading the league in 20+ and 40+ yard catches in 2018 alone. Without Thornton on the field, Hill could fill that void of a deep threat easily.

With the reunion suddenly looking more tangible, the anticipation amongst Hill’s former teammates in the Chiefs locker room is also growing.

“That’s out of my hands, but I know I’d love to have ‘The Cheetah’ back in this building. He’s a brother. He’s a brother,” star tight end Travis Kelce said. “He’s one of those people who, when he sets his mind to something, he usually delivers. You saw that with Miami, when all the haters were saying he couldn’t play and he went and had his best year. I’d be excited by what he could do (here).”

Patrick Mahomes played it a little cooler, noting he didn’t know whether a reunion was in the cards before adding that sharing a huddle with Hill again would be “pretty cool.”

Now, the obvious catch is whether Hill can still move like ‘The Cheetah.’ He hasn’t played in a year since dislocating his left knee and tearing his ACL in Week 4 last September – a brutal injury that required multiple surgeries and left him rebuilding power in that leg all summer. At 32, his entire game relies on pure, twitchy bursts. If that repaired knee robs him of even half a step, he stops being the playmaker who forces defensive coordinators to game plan for him.

If he is at 100%, though, the timing works heavily in Kansas City’s favor if they make a move now. Sitting at 4-0, the Chiefs are heading straight into their Week 5 bye. The front office has two full weeks to get pen on paper and let head coach Andy Reid integrate Hill into the offense before hosting the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 6. Other teams will put in the call for sure, but Hill already knows the playbook, Mahomes knows his speed, and the job opening is just sitting right there.