Tyreek Hill finally hit the open market after the Miami Dolphins cut him on Feb. 16 to clear about $22.8 million in 2026 cap space. Instead of a feeding frenzy for an eight-time Pro Bowler, the early noise around the league is brutal: some teams want nothing to do with him, even at the cheapest possible price.Jason La Canfora of SportsBoom reported on his “Wanna Bet?” podcast that multiple decision-makers are out on Hill after back-to-back messy seasons in Miami. One anonymous GM did not bother with diplomatic language. “We aren’t touching him. No chance. We think he’s done. He isn’t a difference-maker anymore. The juice isn’t worth the squeeze. Not even as a vet-minimum guy for us.”
NFL executives see Tyreek Hill as more risk than reward right now
The hard pass from that GM did not come out of nowhere. Hill is 32 on March 1 and is rehabbing a dislocated left knee and torn ACL suffered on Sept. 29, 2025, against the New York Jets. Before that injury, he managed 21 catches for 265 yards and one touchdown in four games.On top of the knee, front offices have a long file to sift through. Reports out of Miami detailed repeated fines for being late to meetings, sideline frustration, and the way his time with the Dolphins ended after he said, “I’m out,” following a Week 18 loss in 2024.Newsweek also noted that Hill remains under active personal conduct policy review tied to domestic violence allegations from last September, raising the possibility of a suspension on top of any physical decline.Put that together and you get more quotes like this from La Canfora’s reporting: “They weren’t going to get anything for him in trade,” one personnel executive said. “I don’t think free agency is going to be very kind, either.” Another described a league that will be “hesitant” to even kick the tires.This is the same player who led the NFL with 1,799 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns in 2023 and has a Super Bowl ring, five first-team All-Pro selections, and 11,363 career receiving yards.The message from parts of the league is simple: hardware and highlights are no longer enough to offset the knee, the age, and the off-field headaches.
A Chiefs reunion with Patrick Mahomes might be his only real lifeline
For all the anonymous blasting, there is one fit nobody can ignore: the Kansas City Chiefs. Multiple outlets have reported that Kansas City is at least monitoring Hill’s rehab and free agency after his Dolphins release.Financially, it is complicated. Even after restructuring Patrick Mahomes’ deal, the Chiefs are still projected to be over the 2026 cap and need more moves just to get breathing room.If they circle back to Hill, it will almost certainly be on a one-year, incentive-heavy contract that protects them if his speed never fully returns.From Hill’s side, a reunion probably makes more sense than a random prove-it deal on a bad team. He already knows Andy Reid’s system. He has a built-in chemistry with Mahomes that made him the league’s scariest deep threat from 2016 to 2021. If there is any place where a diminished version of Hill can still swing games, it is with an elite quarterback who trusts him.The problem is that even Kansas City is in wait-and-see mode. Reid has already said there is “nothing happening” yet on a signing, and the front office still needs to see where Hill’s knee and any league discipline land before they commit real money or snaps to him.So right now, Hill sits in a strange spot for a future Hall of Famer. One side of the league is calling him “done” and not worth a veteran minimum. The other side might only be willing to bring him back on their terms, late in the process, once the medicals and the off-field picture are clearer.
