MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Tyreek Hill is a year older. But is the star Miami Dolphins wide receiver wiser?
The now-30-year-old certainly tried to give that impression with both word and deed Tuesday. Hill not only reported to the first day of Dolphins training camp despite stalled contract negotiations, but he also struck a team-first tone.
Miami Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill Talks Contract
Hill is underpaid. He’s due to earn $19.8 million in 2024 compensation — which is just the 16th-most in the sport and less than teammate Jaylen Waddle.
So to be sure, Hill still wants a contract adjustment that puts him in line with his contemporaries. But after forcing his way out of Kansas City three years ago, he’s not prepared to go scorched earth a second time.
When asked Tuesday if he believes that the Dolphins will rewrite his contract (which, incidentally, still has three years left on it), Hill replied:
“To be honest, I have no idea. Obviously, I let [agent] Drew [Rosenhaus] and the team handle that situation. The only thing I told Drew was, ‘Do not get me traded, bro.’ Last time you did this, you got me traded. That’s been my only thing to him. I want to stay here in Miami.
“Obviously, this is where my family is now. Everybody loves it here. Family loves it, wife loves it, kids love it. Obviously, I love playing for coach [Mike McDaniel], and my teammates are awesome. I wouldn’t want to leave.”
End of Tyreek2K?
Hill still has personal goals. But unlike last year — when he made a big deal about wanting to become the NFL‘s first 2,000-yard receiver — he’s not letting them eclipse the team vision.
Tyreek Hill said his quest for 2,000 yards last year was “selfish.” pic.twitter.com/NYun9zabSm
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) July 23, 2024
“Obviously, it was great for me to come out and say, ‘X Y Z, I wanna get 2K, you wanna do this and that,'” said Hill, whose 1,799 yards led the NFL.
“That’d be great. But I feel like, at the same time, I have to understand that the position that I’m in and me being one of the leaders and just singling out, you know, an individual goal like that.
“I had time to go look at it, talk about it with my family, and it’s like, that’s very selfish of me, you know. So here moving forward, individual goal, I’ve been talking about this whole entire offseason, with my teammates, with my family. I want us to win a playoff game. I would love that. We’re gonna start with that. Then moving forward, like continuing to build on that, you know, we’re gonna move to the Super Bowl.
“So it’s one step at a time. Like if, if I’m able to, you know, help this team, you know, do something special as a team goal. I would definitely count that as an individual goal as my own, and that’ll feel good. That’ll be something that I could live with for the rest of my life. So that’d be great.”
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Hill has close to a decade in the league, but he’s still in the prime of his career. Last year, he became the first NFL player to post back-to-back 1,700-yard receiving seasons.
Stem Cell Therapy
On Tuesday, Hill discussed his decision to utilize stem cell therapy to extend his career — and how much longer he wants to play.
“Stem cells have been great. I just got back from Antigua actually yesterday, from doing stem cells, and it’s been amazing. Just helping me regenerate some of the cells in my body giving me the correct blood flow that I need. So that’s been great.
“And as far as training, man, I feel like I’m gonna be training my whole entire life cause I feel like each and every year I gotta prove something, you know, to people cause a lot of people feel like I’m not supposed to be doing what I’m supposed to be doing, because of my size and my stature.
“Tom Brady said it the best man. You don’t gotta be the best. So you don’t gotta be the strongest or the tallest, but as long as you stay consistent in what you do each and every day, you’ll be all right, and I feel like that’s been like who I’ve been my whole entire career.
“You know, I showed up to meetings, I bust my tail in the offseason, and I’ve done everything right, you know, in the football space, and that’s helped me achieve a lot of things because of some of what Tom Brady has had to say, cause he was a late-round draft pick, and I was also a late-round draft pick.
“My son is getting older, obviously. He’s starting to play sports, and he’s like, ‘Dad, I want you to come to more of my games.’ And it’s like the more I hear that, the more it’s like, ‘Man, it’s about time for me to like … I don’t know.’
“So I don’t know, man, who knows about when or where I make my decision or when I wanna stop playing, but I definitely know I wanna be in my kid’s life because every offseason I get all of my kids, man. It’s truly a blessing, you know, to have that moment, you know, with all of my boys and be able to help develop them into some great young men the same way that my dad developed me.”