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The Kansas City Chiefs trade All-Pro wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins for multiple draft picks.
As first reported by NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Pro Bowl wide receiver Tyreek Hill has been traded to the Miami Dolphins for five draft picks. The Kansas City Chiefs receive the Dolphin's first (#29), second (#50), and fourth-round picks (#121) this season and their fourth and sixth-round picks in 2023. The Dolphins get Hill to put next to 1,000-yard wide receiver Jaylen Waddle. Hill receives a three-year $75 million extension, making Hill per year the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL.
All signs pointed toward Hill resigning with the Chiefs, but Devante Adams' blockbuster deal with the Las Vegas put Kansas City and Hill at an impasse. As the Chiefs sought suitors for Hill, the New York Jets emerged alongside the Miami Dolphins. It was likely the number of picks the Dolphins were willing to part ways with.
Everyone got what they wanted in this deal. The Dolphins get a star wide receiver to place next to young emerging wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, the Chiefs get picks and cap room this season, and next, and Hill gets paid like one of the top two receivers in the NFL.
The trade made sense for everyone involved.
Anyone who is a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs hates to see a receiver like Hill leave town. Hill has made six Pro Bowls and is a three-time All-Pro. Hill was in the last year of his contract, and the Chiefs did not want to give him Devante Adams level money. The Chiefs have a ton of options with those draft picks.
This trade looks like a trade everyone has a chance to win. If Hill stays healthy, there is no reason he won't produce with the Dolphins. Devante Adams is the only wide receiver in the league that has been more productive than Hill the last three seasons. With what the Chiefs are paying Patrick Mahomes II, they could not afford to have the lion's share of their salary cap invested in two players, and you certainly aren't trading Mahomes. Kansas City can parlay the Hill trade into two or three wide receivers with the picks and cap room they now have.
The Chiefs have options.
What do the Chiefs do with the cap space and picks? The short answer is whatever they want. Kansas City can't replace Hill. There are few athletes in professional sports as gifted athletically as Hill. What they can do is replace his production. Hill began switching from being exclusively a deep threat to a dependable chain mover for Mahomes over the last couple of seasons.
Kansas City might not be able to replace everything that Hill can do with one player. Packers wide receiver Marquez Valdez-Scantling is currently visiting the Chiefs. Valdez-Scantling led the league in yards per reception (20.3) in 2020 and is a viable deep threat. Ohio State wide receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson are both speedsters; Olave is the more polished route-runner who can be a volume catch receiver. The Chiefs could take a flyer on Alabama wide receiver, Jameson Williams in the second or third round (if he is there). Don't forget, the Chiefs still have Travis Kelce and Mecole Hardman.
Don't worry, Chiefs fans; your team has some good options, even if it takes three different receivers to make up for Hill.