The best time for the Dolphins to trade WR Tyreek Hill was arguably at the end of last season when he started rattling the bars about getting out of Miami. Instead, it never really seems like the Dolphins considered trading the veteran this offseason, even as they shed a wave of other notable and expensive players.
The more time goes on, however, the more it seems like the Dolphins are eventually going to have to part ways with Hill. Dating back to when the team acquired him in a blockbuster trade and extension in 2022, there was an off-ramp built into the contract in 2026 when Hill turned 32. Even when the two sides updated his contract in 2024 to give him a raise, the out in the deal was preserved. Hill is due $36 million in 2026, money that’s not guaranteed right now and that he won’t see.
At 0-3 and with almost no playoff hopes, getting a pick instead of cutting Hill for nothing next spring continues to look like the most optimal outcome for the Dolphins, especially with the rising odds that people other than GM Chris Grier and HC Mike McDaniel are overseeing a rebuild next year. Every loss between now and the trade deadline makes a trade more likely.
Here’s a look at all sides of the situation, including what Hill’s trade value is for the Dolphins and which teams make the most sense as landing spots.
Trade Value & Logistics
After a down year in 2024 when Hill failed to crack the thousand-yard plateau for the first time since 2019 when he played just 12 games, the veteran looks to have rebounded so far in 2025. He has 198 yards over three games on 15 catches with a touchdown. It’s not the peak production we saw when Hill had over 3,500 yards across two seasons but it’s still a quality output. More importantly, Hill looks like he still has most of his trademark speed.
That speed is what will make Hill a legitimate trade asset, even if there are other factors that will weigh down his value in the end. Teams prize speed on offense, especially with how much current defenses are working to take away the big play from opponents. Hill can be a difference-maker for a contending team this year.
Two things can be true, though. Hill is also a risky acquisition for a variety of reasons. His contract is manageable but not cheap, not at this point in the calendar. Hill has a $10 million base salary and up to $1.8 million in per-game roster bonuses. That comes out to just under $700,000 per game and with three games gone, the bill for Hill would be about $9.8 million the rest of the way for a new team. Nineteen teams could currently afford that without making any other moves; the other 13 would have to do some kind of restructure or talk the Dolphins into picking up some of the check.
Any team that trades for Hill is almost certainly viewing him as a short-term rental, so his $36 million in 2026 compensation is not a factor, especially because none of it is guaranteed until March. That also minimizes how much of a consideration Hill’s age is, as he’s already shown in the first three games he can be productive at 31. Some teams will be more concerned about injury risk for a player in his 30s, but overall, that’s a minor issue.
The real drag on Hill’s trade value is his volatility off the field. Hill has never been suspended by the NFL, which is worth pointing out. But over the course of his career, he’s been involved in a litany of incidents, the most serious of which was a domestic violence charge he pled guilty to while he was in college in 2014 and that resulted in him being kicked off the team at Oklahoma State. Others include:
- In 2019, Hill was investigated for domestic battery when his three-year-old son broke his arm in an incident. The boy, who was the son of the same woman Hill pled guilty to beating in 2014, was placed in protective custody temporarily. However, Kansas authorities later said they couldn’t bring charges even if they believed something happened because they lacked the necessary evidence, and the NFL also declined to suspend Hill after an investigation.
- In 2023, Hill got into a dispute with a male dock employee and was investigated by Miami police for assault. He and the alleged victim reached a settlement and no charges were filed. The NFL also declined to suspend Hill.
- Hill has been sued by several influencers and models, some for child support and one who alleged Hill broke her arm in an accident at his house.
- This year, police were called to a domestic dispute at Hill’s home as a result of a call made by his mother-in-law. No charges were filed and Hill’s wife, Keeta Vaccaro, filed for divorce the next day. In those court filings, Vaccaro has made allegations of multiple instances of domestic violence over their 17-month marriage, allegations that the NFL has now opened an investigation into.
The last bullet is the most relevant one for teams thinking about trading for Hill. The NFL does not need a conviction, guilty plea or favorable ruling in a lawsuit to issue a suspension. The league bases its decision strictly upon the results of its investigation. Those can and often use official court proceedings as a resource, but the league is careful to wait until the legal process has run its course.
Domestic violence is supposed to trigger a baseline six-game suspension under the NFL’s personal conduct policy. I’m not a lawyer and I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn last night, so I can’t reliably weigh in on what the chances are that Hill is suspended. But they’re not zero, and for the purposes of discussing his trade value, that matters. Reports have already suggested the NFL’s investigation has caused at least one team to re-think its willingness to trade for Hill. Other teams will have a low tolerance for off-field issues, and Hill’s bombastic personality and overall volatility will not mesh with some locker rooms.
All of these factors will detract from what Miami can get back in a trade. On talent alone, the Dolphins would probably love to get at least a Day 2 pick back for Hill. There’s a recent precedent for talented veteran receivers going for that much, even on short-term rentals. The Browns traded Amari Cooper to the Bills for a third before the deadline last year, and the Raiders sent Davante Adams to the Jets for a third that had some upside to become a second.
However, neither deal worked out particularly well for the team getting the player, and that could impact the market for Hill, who also will cost more in terms of cash than either player. A more likely return for Hill would be a fifth-round pick, perhaps even a fourth if there’s a team that ends up feeling desperate before the trade deadline. That’s more in line with what the Chiefs paid to get WR DeAndre Hopkins, and while Hill is more productive, he’s a lot riskier of an investment.
Speaking of the Chiefs…
Trade Destinations For Hill
The glaringly obvious landing spot for Hill is a reunion with the Chiefs, where he was drafted and became a star to start his career. While Kansas City has been to three Super Bowls and won two since trading Hill away, the offense has not been the same. They’ve struggled for years to recapture that explosive element Hill brought, and none of the many investments the team made into the skill positions to replace Hill have come together successfully.
The team is still taking an optimistic view, as speedy WR Xavier Worthy is set to come back this week after dislocating his shoulder in the opener. Kansas City will also get WR Rashee Rice back in three weeks from his six-game suspension. Maybe that’s the trick to get it all to come together. But Rice is coming off a major injury and Worthy is a re-injury risk the rest of the way with his shoulder. Both are also young, developing players. For a team with clear Super Bowl aspirations that’s already on the ropes at 1-2, it’s a gamble to rely on just them.
Trading for Hill would be like acquiring an insurance policy. He’s not the same player he was last time he played for the Chiefs but he brings the same element the offense has been desperately missing, and in conjunction with the team’s other weapons could be a force multiplier. It’s been a few years but there should still be plenty of familiarity with the offense and chemistry with QB Patrick Mahomes.
The Chiefs are also far more likely to be comfortable with Hill’s impact in the locker room and some of his off-the-field volatility, especially if it’s just for a half-season rental, since they’ve been down this road before. For Hill’s part, he’s likely to be more motivated to be on his best behavior in Kansas City than other potential destinations.
The biggest hangups, besides both teams getting to a point where they’re ready to initiate trade talks, would be the cost. The Chiefs have been careful to prioritize draft picks and the chance for cheap contributors given where they are in their team build, so even giving up a fifth-round pick would come with some reluctance. The team has dealt away fourth, sixth and seventh-round picks in 2026 already, though they got a fourth back from the Bears by trading OL Joe Thuney and are projected to get a fifth-round pick for losing DL Tershawn Wharton to the Panthers.
The other confounder is Hill’s salary. The Chiefs have just over $3 million in cap space right now, per Over The Cap. More importantly, they’re currently almost $45 million in the red for 2026. Any restructures they do to accommodate Hill’s contract this year would take away from their future flexibility to make moves.
Ultimately, there’s a case that Hill gives the Chiefs enough upside to make a Day 3 pick and $6-$8 million in cash worth the swing. It’s far from a lock that this will actually happen but there are more dots to connect to the Chiefs than any other team. That doesn’t mean they’re the only potential suitor, however.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The only other team linked to Hill at this point is Pittsurgh, but they’re also the team that has supposedly cooled now that the NFL has opened its personal conduct investigation. Should things change, the fit on the field makes some sense. Outside of WR D.K. Metcalf, Pittsburgh’s receiving corps is short on proven threats. Second-year WR Roman Wilson has yet to find his groove, and while WR Calvin Austin has had some flashes, he’s not a No. 2 option that puts a lot of fear into opponents.
Hill would be dramatically different and give Pittsburgh’s passing game more potency along with QB Aaron Rodgers. Steelers OC Arthur Smith has a reputation as a run-first play-caller but he’s consistently valued having premium skill position talent even if he ends up using them as decoys to create space for the rushing attack and other ancillary targets. Hill still carries that kind of gravity as a pass game target.
The Steelers are veteran-heavy and looking to contend this year, so there’s some motivation on their side for win-now moves, particularly because they have a wealth of compensatory picks coming in 2026 to boost their haul. They’re not particularly flush with cap space at the moment either, but they’re in a better spot than the Chiefs, with $6 million in space right now, more avenues to create more and a $37 million projected surplus in 2026. If they want to trade for Hill and make another blockbuster deal with the Dolphins, they have the ammunition to make it happen.
Washington Commanders
Any other teams interested in trading for Hill would need to check a few boxes. A need for another pass-catching threat is the biggest one, and a sense of urgency to compete this year is close behind. Budget and picks to make the deal are next, and finally, a team has to be willing to roll the dice on Hill’s specific baggage.
The Commanders check the first few boxes. The arrival of QB Jayden Daniels last year turned Washington into an instant contender as they made a run all the way to the NFC title game. In an attempt to follow that up this year, the team has already swung a few trades for experienced veterans and added others like DE Von Miller. Despite launching a rebuild last year under GM Adam Peters and HC Dan Quinn, Washington is one of the oldest rosters in football.
One of those trades was to bring in WR Deebo Samuel whom Peters knew well from San Francisco. Samuel joins WR Terry McLaurin as a legitimate No. 2 in a Washington offense that is sparse behind those two. But McLaurin is banged up right now and Samuel’s injury history is lengthy. It’s intriguing to think about what Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury could work up with an offense that included Daniels, McLaurin, Samuel and Hill all together.
Washington has plenty of money to take on Hill’s contract, ranking fourth in the NFL right now at $28 million in space. The picks would be the heavier lift, as they traded their second and fourth-rounders to Houston for LT Laremy Tunsil this offseason. They do have an extra sixth-round pick from the 49ers for trading RB Brian Robinson.
Ultimately, only Peters and Quinn know if they see receiver as a big enough need to roll the dice on Hill and pay the cost to bring him in, but so far the Commanders have been willing to embrace some big personalities.
Seattle Seahawks
When the Seahawks overhauled their offense this offseason, including trading Metcalf, their former No. 1 receiver, the biggest thing they lost was the deep threat element Metcalf provided. They signed WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling to try and replace that aspect but he didn’t stick this summer. They’ve gotten strong production out of WRs Jaxon Smith-Njigba and surprise fifth-round standout WR Tory Horton so far but neither player is viewed as a take-the-top-off guy.
Hill is an elite deep threat, and would give Seattle’s offense a significant boost even with a decent trio of Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp and Horton. The team has plenty of cap space after the offseason revamp, ranking sixth in the NFL at just under $23 million. They have picks on Day 3 to work with as well.
Seattle also has one of the league’s more aggressive general managers in John Schneider, who has shown in the past he’s not afraid to take swings to improve his team’s standing when a chance to contend is on the table. At 2-1 through three weeks, the Seahawks are right in the mix at the top of a competitive NFC West, a division with all four teams currently above .500 pending Thursday night’s Seahawks/Cardinals tilt.
Hill could be an X-factor that helps the Seahawks create some separation between them and the rest of the division, and potentially make noise in the playoffs beyond that. If all it costs is a fifth-round pick and $8 million, it’s quite possible to envision Schneider seeing that as a swing worth taking.
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