More than a year and a half after the WR Tyreek Hill trade, the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins both seem to have come out of the deal in pretty good shape.
The Dolphins got a star wide receiver for quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to target, and the Chiefs came out with some valuable draft capital and cap flexibility that has helped their efforts to remain among the league’s contenders.
Why did the Chiefs ultimately elect to move on from their star wide receiver?
Why Did Kansas City Trade Tyreek Hill?
Hill emerged as one of the NFL’s top wide receivers and perhaps the league’s fastest player after the Chiefs selected him in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
The now-veteran receiver has made the Pro Bowl every year of his career. Even as a rookie, he hauled in 61 catches for 593 yards and six touchdowns. His most productive season in Kansas City came in 2018 when he caught 87 passes for 1,479 yards and 12 touchdowns.
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He was limited to a career-low 12 games played the following season in 2019 by a collarbone injury and then eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards twice more for the Chiefs in 2020 and 2021.
Hill appears to have been unhappy with what he deemed a diminished role in the offense during that time.
During the debut episode of his podcast, “It Needed To Be Said,” Hill discussed how his relationship with Kansas City declined during those years due to disagreement on how he should be utilized.
“If teams are gonna give us favorable one-on-one matches against their best corner, I don’t see why teams don’t utilize their best receiver,” Hill said. “And that’s where probably like me and the Chiefs fell apart right there. When I’m like, ‘Yo, I don’t mean to talk or be a diva in some situation, but can I see the pill sometime, please? Just give me the ball, please.'”
That difference in ideas, combined with Kansas City seemingly being unwilling to meet Hill’s contract extension wishes, ultimately led the franchise to deal him to Miami on March 23, 2022, in a deal that shook up the NFL landscape.
The Dolphins acquired Hill in exchange for three picks in the 2022 draft (first-, second-, and fourth-round selections) alongside two 2023 selections — one apiece in the fourth and sixth rounds.
How Both Teams Have Fared Since the Deal
Both sides have seen their share of success since making the trade.
Hill has delivered as the bona fide star playmaker they wanted to give Tagovailoa. He caught a career-high 119 passes for 1,710 yards and seven touchdowns in 2022 and has been plenty productive through the first eight games of 2023 at 61 catches for 1,014 yards and eight touchdowns.
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Kansas City has found ways to piece together production at wide receiver, whether it be with WR JuJu Smith-Schuster in 2022 or a combination of players this season. The Chiefs also got several key contributors from the five draft picks they received in the trade, though four of them were traded and turned into different selections.
They ended up with perhaps their best cornerback in Trent McDuffie, an intriguing wide receiver option in Skyy Moore, and a significant depth piece at cornerback in Joshua Williams from their three 2022 selections. DB Chamarri Conner has appeared in all eight games since being selected in 2023, and fellow rookie Keondre Coburn has seen a limited role at defensive tackle.
Kansas City was also able to allocate more money to Mahomes when they restructured his contract in September to pay him $210.6 million between 2023 and 2026.
All in all, it seems both sides have come out of the deal solidly positioned among the league’s contenders.
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