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It appears the Chiefs’ star wide receiver is heading out the door.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reported Wednesday that Kansas City has traded receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins for five draft picks; a first-, second- and fourth-round pick in 2022, and a fourth- and sixth-round pick in 2023.
Chiefs are trading six-time Pro-Bowl WR Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins for five draft picks: a 2022 1st-round pick (No. 29), a 2nd-round pick (No. 50) and a 4th-round pick, as well as 4th- and 6th-round picks in the 2023 draft, sources tell ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 23, 2022
Trade talks accelerated after reports came out that the Chiefs and Hill were unable to agree on a contract extension. The Dolphins now plan to give Hill a four-year, $120 million extension, according to Schefter.
Hill was a six-time Pro Bowler and a four-time All-Pro selection for the Chiefs in six seasons.
HEAR FROM THE BIG SHOW HOSTS
Andy Humphrey: “I get that extension talks can be treacherous, but every trade scenario I could come up with for the Chiefs as a solid return didn’t add up to being more beneficial than just paying the man his money. When you have a championship window, you maximize it as much as possible. You don’t sell away assets for picks. The Chiefs can still add to their team this offseason, but keeping Tyreek Hill’s skillset around gives you the best chance at a title.
All offseason long, I’ve said that in order for the Chiefs to keep up with the rest of the pack, they need to embrace who they really are. That is, a team with a generational talent at quarterback that surrounds him with protection on the offensive line and versatile weapons all over the field to work with. You can add to the defense too, but keeping your offense as the formidable unit it is should be more important. The JuJu Smith-Schuster move helped that effort, but this move? Not so much.
The only other part of this is whether this is more of a decision by the Chiefs to move on, or by Hill? If it’s the latter, then there isn’t much the Chiefs can do about that, and the trade makes a little more sense. You can be happy about the fact that KC raked in a nice crop of picks, most of which they will be able to use this year. But all this comes back to the fact that the Chiefs now need to find a backup plan for one of the most electric receivers in the NFL. And if it’s really true that the Chiefs were unwilling to offer more cash to keep him with the team, that makes me question how “all-in” they really are.”
Brenden Schaeffer: “It might have been inevitable that the relationship between Tyreek Hill and the Chiefs would come to an end this offseason. If Hill wanted out, we are in an era of professional sports where the player has the leverage to be able to force a move to take place.
What’s undeniable, though, is that it couldn’t be coming at a worse time for the Chiefs. Kansas City entered this off-season needing to beef up its offense to get back over the hump amid a changing AFC landscape.
Though they got there again this past season, the 2021 campaign revealed evidence that the days of Patrick Mahomes and Co. enjoying the benefit of an annual automatic bid to the AFC Championship Game were over. Burrow. Allen. Herbert. Jackson. These elite young quarterbacks are just getting started. The path had become less certain.
And that was true before Russell Wilson and Davante Adams joined division rivals. Suddenly, it’s not just their standing in the conference that should concern the Chiefs. While the Broncos, Raiders and Chargers have improved with splashy off-season acquisitions, Kansas City had largely stood pat, adding complementary WR JuJu Smith-Schuster as their most significant move. Even with some standard roster attrition anticipated on defense, the Chiefs still possessed a plausible argument that the greatness of Mahomes, Hill and Kelce would be enough to maintain Kansas City’s stranglehold on the AFC West.
Wednesday’s news has yanked the rug out from under that rose-colored notion. I hate to be the ‘prisoner of the moment’ guy, but without Hill, the Chiefs simply don’t have the horses offensively at this point to project as the best team in the division. An evolving AFC West picture has officially transformed mild concern into full-blown panic for the Chiefs.”
