Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill (10) on the field before the game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Monday was locker cleanout day for the Miami Dolphins, and Tyreek Hill’s comments and decision to take himself out of the Week 18 in the second half were a popular topic during the various media sessions with players.
And the general theme among those players interviewed — Alec Ingold, Jevon Holland, Zach Sieler, Jonnu Smith — was that maybe it wasn’t a big deal, that Hill has the right to express his opinion.
The one interesting comment came from outside linebacker Bradley Chubb.
“Disappointing for sure, but at the end of the day, man, you’ve just got to move on with the guys who want to be here,” Chubb said. “You’ve got to continue to fight, continue to lay that groundwork when it comes down to this offseason program. And we’ll look at the cards where they lay around that time, but right now, man, that’s up for those guys to make those decisions. But when we get here around and everybody here in April I know those are gonna be the guys who want to see this thing move forward through the good, the bad because I we’ve been we’ve had our highs with coach Mike (McDaniel), we’ve had our lows with coach Mike, so now it’s about learning from both of those experiences and moving forward.”
Sieler, like Hill a team captain, offered this take, which offered a clue at some under-the-radar issues that might hurt the Dolphins in 2024.
“I was on defense and I wasn’t watching the offense,” Sieler began. “I’m making our corrections, so I don’t know. I haven’t even watched it yet to be honest with you, but yeah. Obviously, it’s a knee-jerk reaction. That stuff happens and I don’t know what happened. I’m not going to speak for him or speak on that. That’s his own decision, but I know as a team that we need to stay focused this year on making sure everyone’s here and making sure we’re on time and we’re focused on winning it all next year and making the corrections from this season going into OTAs and camp this year.”
After expressing on X on Sunday night his appreciation for the support he’s gotten from Dolphins fans, perhaps as some sort of farewell because with Tyreek you never know, Hill didn’t post any strong words Monday.
But he did make a strong statement nonetheless or another troll job with his new profile picture.
It’s his face superimposed on the body of fellow controversial wide receiver Antonio Brown when Brown quit on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the middle of a game and left the field barechested.
Again, was it another statement he wants out or another troll job?
Hill signed a restructured contract before the start of the regular season that included new money and got him more money up front, and the cap hit would be egregious if the Dolphins were to cut him.
But it’s fairly palatable if the Dolphins decided to trade him, particularly if they make it a post-June 1 move.
As outlined in a great look at the trade ramifications on overthecap.com, trading Hill would create a $28 million cap hit for the Dolphins as a regular move, but could be brought down to $15.3 million for 2025 and the rest for 2026 if it’s a post-June 1 move.
As for what the Dolphins could get in return, expectations probably should be kept on the low end given Hill’s age, contract, his recent injuries, his sub-standard 2024 season and, well, the fact he can be volatile.
This isn’t exactly an apples-to-apples comparison, but just understand that when the Bills sent Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans last April, all they got in return was a second-round draft pick — and they had to throw in fourth- and fifth-round picks themselves.
So the idea the Dolphins could get a first-round pick or a package of picks probably isn’t realistic.
As for who might be interested in Hill, BetOnline.ag has listed the Dallas Cowboys as the favorite to trade for him at 3/1, followed by the Las Vegas Raiders at 4/1, Atlanta Falcons at 5/1, Bills at 6/1, New England Patriots at 8/1, Jacksonville Jaguars at 10/1, Denver Broncos at 12/1, Washington Commanders at 12/1 and Hill’s old team, the Kansas City Chiefs, at 16/1.
