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Tyreek Hill is officially a Miami Dolphin. Seeing him take the podium in a Fins hat March 24 may have seemed surreal to some fans given that his trade from the Kansas City Chiefs appeared to come out of nowhere.
Hill provided some perspective on the trade during his introductory press conference March 24, and NFL.com’s Jeffri Chadiha weighed in with a “final note” on why Hill, 28, and the Chiefs parted ways.
“Hill wanted to beat Davante Adams deal or had no interest in staying in KC. No team discount was in play and team was concerned about him being a distraction without a deal getting done. Best move for both parties,” Chadiha tweeted on March 24.
Chadiha’s reporting comports with the perspective of Heavy’s NFL front office insider, Randy Mueller, who wrote on March 24: “No doubt, it’s all about money for Hill and the Chiefs both.”
The ripple effects of the blockbuster trade have already led to one Chiefs addition, wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and the expectation is that many more could follow.
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From the Horse’s Mouth
At Hill’s presser, we got to hear from the “Cheetah’ himself.”
Hill began by thanking his former general manager and head coach for allowing this move to happen. Then he got into the why, first discussing Miami: “This is where I train at in the offseason, believe [it] or not. … I had to come back, man, come home. I got family here, I got relatives here, so I’m always here, man.”
When asked what it means to him to be the highest-paid receiver in the NFL, Hill acknowledged that he “almost teared up,” adding: “It’s the greatest feeling ever, man. All the hard work coming from a small town, going through the adversity, and then just watching it all happen for myself and my family. My support system, the people who love me, we all getting blessed, man. I’m just happy.”
When asked how hard it was to leave Kansas City, Hill said: “It’s tough man, but if somebody comes to you with a lot of money, it changes. The feelings started to change a little bit.” Then he chuckled and said, “Let me stop,” noting more seriously that he weighed the decision carefully and even discussed it with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes before making things official.
Later, he reiterated how important it was for him to “finally be able to play in front of [his] family.”
In the end, family and financials appeared to be the two key motivating factors for Hill.
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Hill Makes Clarification as Agent Reveals New Info
The only somewhat awkward moment of Hill’s exit came on Twitter after the wide receiver went out of his way to make a subtle clarification.
A Chiefs fan wrote: “This isn’t a diss on Tyreek Hill. The Chiefs took a chance on him in 2016. No one else did. Andy Reid turned him into the highest-paid receiver in the NFL. Who says he can’t do that again?”
The tweet blew up enough to catch Hill’s eye, and he decided to quote tweet it and make a correction. “*John Dorsey,” he noted, referring to the general manager who drafted him.
It’s possible that there was a disconnect between Hill and Chiefs general manager Brett Veach in recent weeks, and agent Drew Rosenhaus alluded as much when he joined AM 560 Sports WQAM Miami’s “The Joe Rose Show With Zach Krantz.”
He explained that the two sides had made steady progress on an extension until the Adams contract “flipped everything upside down.” At that point, the Chiefs appeared to conclude that there was more value in trading Hill at peak value.
NFL Network insider Mike Garafolo was notably skeptical of Rosenhaus’ explanation, tweeting: “Still struggling to see how the Adams deal ($22.5m per year over 3 years) was the game changer everybody thinks it was. Julio Jones got $22m per year over 3 years in 2019. Marginal increase for Adams 3 years later. If anybody’s deal changes things, it’s Hill’s ($25m apy over 3).”
As much as we are all able to piece together, certain details of this offseason bomb may remain a mystery for some time. Hill might have said it best during his press conference: “If you ain’t got no tea, I ain’t talking.” So far, no one has.
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