Following the Miami Dolphins’ Week 18 loss to the New York Jets, Tyreek Hill’s postgame comments made headlines, as he said that he wants out of Miami.
“This is my first time I haven’t been in the playoffs,” Hill told reporters. “I just gotta do what’s best for me and my family. If that’s here or wherever the case may be, I’m finna open that door for myself. I’m opening the door. I’m out, bro. It was great playing here, but at the end of the day, bro, I got to do what’s best for my career.”
Following Hill’s postgame comments, the rumor mill started churning. What are some potential landing spots for the star wide receiver if Miami decides to trade him?
Let’s examine six potential suitors with the necessary cap space to take on his contract. It’s worth noting that if Hill is traded, his cap hit would only be $15.97 million for his new team.
Whenever a star wide receiver hits the market, the Pittsburgh Steelers seem to pop up as a potential suitor.
Pittsburgh reportedly expressed interest in Davante Adams, Brandon Aiyuk, and Christian Kirk, among others, but they weren’t able to pull off a blockbuster trade for any of these receivers.
While the Steelers acquired Mike Williams in a deal with the New York Jets prior to the trade deadline, he’s 30 years old and on an expiring contract. Also, Williams hasn’t produced much since arriving in Pittsburgh; in nine games, he had just nine catches for 132 yards and one touchdown.
The Steelers will likely be in the market for a wide receiver this offseason, and pairing Hill with 23-year-old George Pickens could give them a terrific one-two punch that could take the offense to the next level.
This is a big offseason for the Las Vegas Raiders, and bringing in an alpha WR1 is a high priority. While they need to figure out their quarterback situation, they also need to upgrade their receiving corps.
Brock Bowers is a terrific tight end and a quarterback’s best friend, and Jakobi Meyers is a solid complementary receiver.
But ideally, the Raiders will land a star wideout since this became a glaring need after Adams was traded to the Jets prior to the deadline.
Aside from Meyers, no other Raiders wide receiver had 550 receiving yards this season. It’s possible that Las Vegas will try to add a receiver through the 2025 NFL Draft, but Hill could give them a sure thing.
After moving on from veterans Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, the Los Angeles Chargers turned to young talent at the wide receiver position.
Los Angeles’ top four wideouts are all age-25 or younger: Ladd McConkey (23), Quentin Johnston (23), Joshua Palmer (25), and Derius Davis (24).
The Chargers have to be pleased with what they’ve seen from McConkey (the No. 34 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft) and Johnston (a sophomore who has looked significantly better than he did in Year 1). Both exceeded expectations this season.
Still, there’s room for another pass catcher on Los Angeles’ roster, especially with Palmer hitting free agency this offseason.
Justin Herbert is an uber-talented quarterback who has shown he can produce when given the weapons and opportunity. After winning 11 games in Jim Harbaugh’s first season, perhaps the Chargers would be open to adding Hill in hopes of speeding up their timeline.
Marvin Harrison Jr. is a rising star who scored eight touchdowns during his rookie season, and a duo of Harrison and Hill would make life significantly easier for Kyler Murray.
Michael Wilson Jr. made strides this year and Greg Dortch is solid, but they are both role players who would be better served as secondary options.
The Cardinals are coming off a disappointing eight-win season in which they missed the playoffs, so perhaps they would be open to a bold move that could help them compete in the loaded NFC West.
Hill, Harrison, Trey McBride, and James Conner would give Murray plenty of weapons and make Arizona a much scarier team going forward.
Can you imagine a one-two punch of Hill and Justin Jefferson, plus Jordan Addison in the slot?
The Vikings have the necessary cap space to take on Hill, and perhaps their 14-win season will give them the confidence to push their chips to the middle of the table and pull off a blockbuster move.
Hill and Jefferson would form one of the best wide-receiver tandems of all-time, and they would be extremely difficult to contain since both players are accustomed to seeing double teams.
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell would have a field day drawing up plays for Hill, Jefferson, and Addison.
The Lions’ offense is scary enough as is, but what happens if they were to add Hill to the mix? Detroit will have nearly $60 million in cap space this offseason with 40 players under contract, so they could realistically afford Hill.
The Lions already have Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, so they aren’t as WR-needy as some other teams on this list.
For Detroit, this move would be more about trying to push an already-talented team over the edge in hopes of winning a Super Bowl.
However, the Lions have built a strong culture around team-first players, so it’s possible they wouldn’t want to risk introducing Hill to their locker room given his antics.
Hill’s recent outburst and head coach Mike McDaniel’s insinuation that he quit on the team in Week 18 could scare some teams away and hurt the wideout’s trade value.
