Not even bye weeks are quiet for the Miami Dolphins. And for that, they have Tyreek Hill to thank.
Hill this week set off coast-to-coast speculation that he wanted a trade out of Miami with a wistful walk down memory lane on social media. Hill posted on Snapchat a 36-second montage of his highlights while he was a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, with some accompanying nostalgic and seemingly wistful comments.
Does Miami Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill Want a Trade?
“Always will be my brothers,” he wrote under a picture of him celebrating with his then-Chiefs teammates.
The last image of the video? A three-second still shot of Hill hugging Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, with the text, “This connection was special.”
Tyreek Hill reposting all of his old chiefs highlights on his Snapchat story👀👀
Does @cheetah want back in KC? pic.twitter.com/3Xrk8F7JP9
— Wahomes (@NotWahomes)
So what’s going on?
There are three possibilities:
- Hill, who belongs on the Mount Rushmore of trolls, is just stirring the pot for fun.
- Hill wanted a viral way to promote his Soul Runner apparel brand (which he plugs in the video).
- Hill really wants a trade back from the Dolphins to the Chiefs.
If Door No. 3 really is his motivation, it’s both wildly ungrateful and contrary to his public statements. Yes, the Chiefs are undefeated, while the Dolphins are scuffling through a 2-3 season.
But Hill is a team captain who just two months ago convinced Miami to give him an $11.4 million raise over the next two seasons, with his entire 2024 and 2025 compensation now guaranteed.
Now, if the Dolphins’ season goes off the rails, perhaps it would be beneficial for both sides to part ways ahead of the Nov. 5 trade deadline. But for Hill to push for that now, with the team fighting to keep its season alive while Tua Tagovailoa recovers from a concussion, it would be terrible form.
In his defense, Hill said all the right things when asked about a potential trade back to K.C.
“I’m just focused on right here and right now,” Hill said last week. “We’ve got a beautiful team here, and I want to be a part of it. We’ve got a great situation here, my family loves it, I enjoy it, the weather is great, the fans are great. So we’ve got a beautiful situation here.
“Obviously, my parents always taught me control the controllables, and I only can control so much. So with that being said, we all know the NFL is a business. Whatever happens, happens. Moving forward, I would love to be here. I love being here. I love the guys.”
The Framework of a Hypothetical Tyreek Hill Trade
But since you never can know for sure that Hill means what he says, let’s do the exercise and discuss the logistics of a Hill trade from the Dolphins back to the Chiefs.
First, is it even possible?
The short answer? Yes — but it would take some effort on Miami’s part.
The Dolphins currently have $6 million in remaining 2024 cap space, per the NFLPA. Trading Hill next week with a post-June 1 designation would trigger an $11.9 million dead cap hit this year and a $19.3 million dead cap hit next year. But the transaction would actually clear up $8.4 million in 2025 space, as Hill would have cost the Dolphins $27.7 million against the cap next year if he were on the team.
How to make up that other $6 million they need in cap space this year? The Dolphins could trade other players (which wouldn’t be a bad idea, as dealing Hill would suggest they’re punting on the 2024 season) or simply restructure the contracts of players they know they want on their team next year to clear up enough space.
As for the Chiefs, they have more than enough space to absorb the remaining $800,000 in base salary Hill is owed this year. And with roughly $25 million in projected 2025 cap space, they would have little problem fitting Hill’s $27.8 million in fully guaranteed 2025 compensation in their budget.
As for Hill’s 2026 total cash owed — $36 million — it’s not guaranteed.
But given the skyrocketing cost of wide receivers, Kansas City would probably agree to pay that final year out if he dominates the next two seasons. Even if the Chiefs honor every non-guaranteed penny he’s owed between now and the end of the 2026 season, he would cost the Chiefs a total of $64.6 million — or just $1.4 million per game.
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That prorated over a 17-game season makes for an adjusted annual salary of $24.4 million — which would put Hill outside of the top 10 at his position.
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Put another way, the Chiefs would be getting Hill at a steep discount.
The trade compensation must reflect that for the Dolphins to pull the trigger.
While it’s a stretch to think they will get back from Kansas City what they sent the Chiefs to acquire Hill in 2022 — a first-round pick, a second, two fourths, and a sixth — any trade involving one of the NFL’s 10 best players must start with a first-rounder, particularly since there’s a very good chance that pick will be in the 30s in 2025.
Our proposal? Hill for …
- Kansas City’s 2025 first-round pick
- A 2025 fifth-round pick
- And a 2026 fourth-round pick
That, in a worst-case scenario, would give the Dolphins the equivalent of the 29th pick of this year’s draft — and free up $12 million over the next two years to help them transition into their next relaunch.
