Nearly two years after the WR Tyreek Hill trade, the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins will face off in an AFC Wild Card matchup.
In the trade, the Dolphins got a star wide receiver to help out quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and the Chiefs came out with some valuable draft capital and cap flexibility that has helped their efforts to remain a top team in the league.
Why did the Chiefs ultimately opt 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 veteran receiver has made the Pro Bowl every year of his career. 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.
In the trade, the Dolphins received Hill, while the Chiefs received a 2022 first-round pick, a 2022 second-round pick, a 2022 fourth-round pick, a 2023 fourth-round pick and a 2023 sixth-round pick.
The move was made with Hill up for an extension, with the possibility of becoming the NFL’s highest-paid wide receiver at the time. However, the Chiefs were in a tough spot in terms of making that happen after paying quarterback Patrick Mahomes his blockbuster $450 million deal.
Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said the trade worked out for both sides.
“I think that was a trade that worked out well for both parties,” Hunt said. “Obviously, Tyreek’s an incredible player and has done very well in his time with the Dolphins, but I also think it benefited the Chiefs.
“The draft compensation that we received, a lot of that draft capital was used to improve our defense, and I think this year we’re seeing that it did indeed work out well. We’ve got a number of really talented young defensive players, many of whom were part of that trade.”
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By now, the Chiefs have already filled out their roster after the deal. With their picks, they have selected Trent McDuffie, Skyy Moore, Joshua Williams, Chamarri Conner, and Keondre Coburn.
Hill’s departure didn’t affect the Chiefs like many thought it would, as Kansas City went on to win the Super Bowl in its first season without Hill. Travis Kelce shouldered the load in the receiving game with 1,338 yards and a career-high 12 touchdowns, and JuJu Smith-Schuster caught 78 passes for 933 yards and three touchdowns.
Additionally, Hill’s production took off after he left Andy Reid. In 2022, Hill caught a career-high 119 passes for a career-high 1,710 yards and seven touchdowns for the Dolphins.
So far this season, Hill has brought it 119 receptions for 1,799 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Now, Hill returns to Arrowhead Stadium for the first time since the trade. However, it’s actually his second time going up versus his original team. The Dolphins and Chiefs faced off in Week 9 in Frankfurt, Germany, as part of the NFL’s 2023 International Series, with Hill recording eight catches for 62 yards but also losing a critical fumble in a one-score loss for the Dolphins.
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