The Miami Dolphins have acquired six-time pro bowl wide receiver Tyreek Hill in a trade from the Kansas City Chiefs. The Dolphins are sending five draft picks to the Chiefs: a 2022 first-round pick, 2022 second-rounder, 2022 fourth-rounder, 2023 fourth-rounder, and 2023 sixth-rounder.
As part of the deal, Miami is giving Hill a new four-year, $120 million contract extension for an average of $30 million per season. The deal also includes $72.2 million guaranteed and a $52.535 million signing bonus.
That new deal makes Hill the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history. The $72.2 million will become guaranteed at the beginning of the 2023 season.
Hill was in the final year of a three-year $54 million contract he signed with Kansas City in 2019. The Chiefs reportedly offered him a contract extension that would have put him among the highest-paid wide receivers. However, Hill wanted to be the highest-paid at his position, so contract talks between the two teams stalled.
The Chiefs then granted Hill and his agent permission to seek a trade partner that would fulfill his contract demands. That team ended up being the Dolphins, though the New York Jets were also rumored to have been a frontrunner.
Hill overtakes Davante Adams for the title of the highest-paid receiver in the NFL.
Adams was in the top spot just briefly, as last week he was traded from the Green Bay Packers to the Las Vegas Raiders, who subsequently gave him a five-year contract of $141.25 million for an average of $28.25 million per season. Adam’s contract also included $67.5 million fully guaranteed.
Hill’s new Miami contract also includes a $250,000 bonus for each season he is named to the Pro Bowl.
Hill has been named to the Pro Bowl in each of the six seasons of his NFL career. With the Chiefs last season, he had a career-best and franchise-record 111 receptions for 1,239 yards and nine touchdowns. He has racked up 479 receptions for 6,630 yards and 56 touchdowns for his career.
Hill had been with Kansas City since they selected him in the fifth round of the 2016 draft out of West Alabama.
His selection in the draft came one year after he pleaded guilty to domestic abuse as part of a plea deal and was given three years of probation. Hill was charged with choking and punching his pregnant girlfriend in December 2014. He was attending and playing football for Oklahoma State at the time, but he was kicked off the team after the incident and transferred to West Alabama.
The trade for Hill is the second significant move the Dolphins made for their offense this week.
On Tuesday, the Dolphins agreed on a five-year deal with left tackle Terron Armstead, formerly of the New Orleans Saints, worth up to $87.5 million. The deal includes $43.37 million in guaranteed money. Armstead was one of the top free agents available during the 2022 cycle.
Miami has prioritized offense in free agency. They also added two former Dallas Cowboys to their offense via free agency, in receiver Cedrick Wilson and offensive lineman Connor Williams. Additionally, two new running backs have signed with the team during free agency: Chase Edmonds, formerly of the Arizona Cardinals, and Raheem Mostert, previously a San Francisco 49er.
The Dolphins also have some talented players returning to the offense in receiver Jaylen Waddle and tight end Mike Gesicki. Waddle had 104 receptions for 1,015 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie last season. Gesicki was set to become a free agent, but the team placed the franchise tag on him. He was the second-leading receiver on the team last season with 73 receptions and 780 yards.
The plethora of weapons on Miami’s offense will pressure their third-year quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, to deliver winning results. Tagovailoa has received mixed reviews from analysts since being selected with the fifth overall pick of the 2020 draft.
The retooled offense is also assuredly to the delight of Miami’s new first-year head coach, Mike McDaniel, who was previously the San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator. The Dolphins hired McDaniel after firing Brian Flores, despite the team posting a 10-7 record last season.
After the acquisition of Tyreek Hill, the Dolphins’ odds at Caesars Sportsbook to win the Super Bowl improved from 70-1 to 40-1. Their odds to win the AFC improved from 35-1 to 20-1.
