Tyreek Hill didn’t want to be a Kansas City Chief anymore. At least not for what they were offering him on his next contract.
The three-time All-Pro and member of the NFL’s official All-2010s team — despite entering the league in 2016 — had been unable to come to terms with Kansas City on a contract extension. The Chiefs, understanding this impasse, allowed him to seek out a trade that would send Hill elsewhere while returning franchise-changing draft considerations in exchange.
Every team in the league would carve out a spot in its wide receiver room for a player of Hill’s caliber. His top suitors, however, were two teams that haven’t won a playoff game in the last 11 years.
Multiple teams were approached about a potential Tyreek Hill trade, but the Jets and Dolphins emerged in recent days as the two finalists, per sources. Hill is now likely to wind up as a Jet or Dolphin.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 23, 2022
This was a stunning twist in an offseason that’s been filled with them. It wasn’t just smoke; on Wednesday afternoon, Hill was traded to Miami in exchange for a five-pick package that includes the Dolphins first- and second-round selections in 2022.
Chiefs are trading six-time Pro-Bowl WR Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins for five draft picks: a 2022 1st-round pick (No. 29), a 2nd-round pick (No. 50) and a 4th-round pick, as well as 4th- and 6th-round picks in the 2023 draft, sources tell ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 23, 2022
Hill was a core piece of the Chiefs’ identity — the “screw it, he’s down there somewhere” recipient of Patrick Mahomes’ highlight-reel throws. His field-stretching, cornerback-shaking speed and agility, paired with Mahomes’ ability to extend plays and throw a football with inhuman strength and precision, were central tenets of Kansas City’s rise from “playoff team?” to “perennial AFC title game host.”
Hill wanted to leave that behind to play with Tua Tagovailoa? And Andy Reid was okay with this?
Well yes, and it all boils down to DeAndre Hopkins.
Hopkins’ 2020 contract extension with the Arizona Cardinals added two years and $54.5 million to his existing deal. While that made the overall value of his contract at the time worth $94 million over five years, the new money salary of $27.25 million annually became the new bar to clear for the league’s top wide receivers.
No one approached that number in 2021 thanks to a shrunken, COVID-altered salary cap. Then Davante Adams summited that peak in 2022, leaving the Green Bay Packers behind in the process.
Adams was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders for first and second-round picks in this year’s draft, then signed a five-year, $140 million contract that makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history. It was a move the Packers had to make — after extending Aaron Rodgers, retaining Adams at that cost would have devoted more than $78 million in annual average salaries to two players. That’s roughly 37.5 percent of the league’s current salary cap.
That’s the standard Hill sought to top as he entered the final season of a three-year, $54 million extension signed back in 2019. The Chiefs faced the same problem the Packers are after signing Mahomes to a 10-year, $450 million deal in the summer of 2020. Could they justify devoting 35 percent of their cap space to two players, regardless of how vital they are to the offense?
The answer was no. Now Hill will reportedly get $30 million per year in Miami.
Dolphins are giving their new WR Tyreek Hill a 4-year, $120 million extension, including $72.2 million guaranteed, per @DrewJRosenhaus. pic.twitter.com/rkSWmAOOMt
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 23, 2022
So why the Dolphins, a team with a quarterback who, through two seasons in the NFL has been decidedly worse than Mahomes?
Hill’s extension demands limited his potential destinations. Not only did the acquiring team need to meet the Chiefs’ asking price of premier draft compensation, but also clear enough cap space to roster the defense-torching wideout for years to come.
That effectively limited Hill’s destinations to teams with quarterbacks currently on inexpensive rookie contracts and who aren’t currently in line for massive Mahomes/Rodgers type extensions this year. That narrowed the field in 2022 down to the:
- Dolphins
- Jets
- Bengals
- Giants
- 49ers
- Chargers
- Bears
- Patriots
- Eagles
The 49ers already have Deebo Samuel. The Bengals have Ja’Marr Chase. The Chargers are spending nearly $40 million annually on Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. The Giants and Bears have bigger problems to worry about than wideout. The Eagles have three first round draft picks coming up and are likely content to take another shot at a Day 1 wideout. The Patriots need a WR1 and will have plenty of cap space for 2023, but Bill Belichick is loathe to spend more than $20 million annually on a non-quarterback (and even then…).
That left us with the two teams who’ve typically jousted for the bottom spot in the AFC East the past decade. The Dolphins’ offer was more palatable for Reid and company than the Jets. Now Hill will go from a perennial Pro Bowler and the 2018 NFL MVP to a third-year quarterback who averages fewer than 200 passing yards per game and whose average completed pass travels only 3.7 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
That is grim. Mahomes averaged 69 deep balls per season in his four years as the Chiefs’ starter. Tagovailoa has averaged 25.5 in two years, albeit in fewer games thanks to injury. Either way, Hill will be counted on to be a transformational presence in his young quarterback’s passing game. We’ll know soon if Tagovailoa downfield struggles were a function of the personnel on the field or personal limitations.
This could be a very frustrating 2022 for Hill, but he’ll be paid like the game-changing factor he is on the field. Hopkins’ 2020 contract extension wrecked the salary curve when it came to the NFL’s top wide receivers, making them more valuable than pass rushers or any other position but quarterback in the process. Now teams will have to make tough decisions between an unstoppable veteran 1-2 punch in the passing game or general roster depth.
By dealing Hill, Kansas City opted for the latter.
