T.Y. Hilton Was '5 Seconds Away' from Joining Ravens Prior to Colts Contract

T.Y. Hilton has never played for an NFL team besides the Indianapolis Colts, but he was apparently close to joining another AFC team.

The veteran wide receiver told Pat McAfee that he was "five seconds away" from being a Raven and said that he tweeted a cryptic string of eyeball emojis because he was almost gone from the Colts: 

Instead, Nat Newell of Indianapolis Star reported Hilton re-signed with the Colts on a one-year deal worth $8 million guaranteed. It can be worth up to $10 million depending on if he reaches incentives.

After he decided to stay, Hilton tweeted his love for Indianapolis and added, "It's only right I finish what I started."

Newell shared the wide receiver's comments about speaking with Colts owner Jim Irsay and general manager Chris Ballard and how they influenced his decision:

"I asked God to show me a sign. About 12 o'clock, I prayed about it. Texting (Colts GM) Chris Ballard the whole time. By 2:30, I'm like, 'By 3 o'clock, I'm signing somewhere.' At 2:55, I got on the phone with Chris, 'Are we going to get this done?' He came up with a number. It was all right but I'm going to this next team. As soon as I closed his message, Irsay texted me. I thought, 'There goes my sign.' That's when we got it done.

"(Irsay) was awesome. He said, 'I hope we can get it done.' I told him the number I wanted and they got to it."

There is no questioning Hilton's status as a Colts legend.

The team selected him with a third-round pick in the 2012 NFL draft, and he topped 1,000 receiving yards in his second season. He was also a Pro Bowler four years in a row from 2014 through 2017 and led the league with 1,448 receiving yards in 2016.

He's had five seasons with more than 1,000 yards and is third on the Colts' all-time list with 9,360 receiving yards.