It wouldn’t be a normal day in South Beach if there wasn’t some talk about Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill. In recent years, the conversation would have centered around how insane-good he is at football. But, for roughly the last year and a half, the discussion has been more focused on “what did he say now?” and “how do we get rid of him?”
Well, sports trending reporter Jack McKessy of USA Today did us all a favor by breaking down Hill’s contract details and seeing when it might be financially feasible for the Dolphins to move on from the mercurial wide receiver.
“Hill originally signed his four-year, $120 million contract extension with the Dolphins in 2022, on the same day the Kansas City Chiefs traded him to Miami,” McKessy writes. “He signed a restructured version of the contract last year, and it includes a potential out for the Dolphins after 2025.”
Oh, do tell!
Tyreek Hill could be traded soon if the Dolphins keep losing
The Dolphins are facing an 0-3 start to this season tonight when they travel to take on the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football and, if that happens, expect the fire-sale talk to begin.
The first order of business would be dealing with Hill and the problem would be his contract. If the Dolphins could have moved on painlessly, they’d have done so a long time ago.
“Hill’s recent contract restructure slightly tweaked the length and value of the contract to three years and $90 million, while keeping the same AAV,” McKessy continues. “It also expanded the guarantees from $52.5 million to $54 million at signing.
“The guaranteed money, according to Spotrac, is a $7 million signing bonus plus his full compensation for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.”
So, the Dolphins have already given him plenty of cash. The obvious problem is that Tyreek is an absolute cap nightmare. And, whose fault is that? This is why so many Dolphins fans want to get rid of general manager Chris Grier; he’s given out too many of these types of deals.
What will it look like if the Dolphins move on from Tyreek Hill?
The trade rumors have been swirling really since Tyreek made his famous “I’m out, bro” comments following the season-ending loss to the New York Jets in January.
So, what would happen to the Dolphins’ cap situation if they decided they can’t take his antics anymore?
“In 2026, Hill is set to count as a nearly $52 million cap hit against the Dolphins’ salary cap space,” McKessy writes. “Miami could save $36.3 million in space by trading or cutting Hill before June 1, eating $15.6 million in dead cap. In a post-June 1 move, the Dolphins would save $39.2 million in cap space and eat $12.7 million in dead cap.”
Obviously, the Dolphins would like to minimize any kind of dead cap hit, but that’s probably unavoidable. They made their bed and now they have to sleep with the stale cookie crumbs. If things continue on this path, the Dolphins will keep racking up losses, head coach Mike McDaniel will get fired, Grier will get tossed after the season and the first order of business for the new regime will be solving the Tyreek situation (if he’s still here).