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Marcel Louis-Jacques
MIAMI — Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill said his end-of-season comments came from a place of “frustration,” after missing the playoffs for the first time in his nine-year NFL career.
Hill hinted at a possible exit from the team he’s spent the past three seasons with after the Dolphins’ season-ending loss to the New York Jets in Week 18. Speaking to his viewers while streaming a video game, Hill stood by his frustrations and explained his perspective.
“What y’all had heard at the end of the season was frustration,” he said. “I’ve been winning my whole life, bruh. Y’all don’t understand, I bust my ass every day — I deserve to feel like that, I deserve to have some kind of opinion. Y’all just want me to say, ‘Oh well, get ’em next year?’ Nah, f— that. We’ve got to come back, we got to put some pressure on motherf—–. Y’all got to fix this s—, come on. Add some motherf—— dogs in this b—-. I compete, I love to compete, bruh.”
After the Jets game in Week 18, Hill vowed to do what’s best for himself and his family, “if that’s here or wherever the case may be.”
“I’m out, bruh,” Hill said. “It was great playing here but at the end of the day, I have to do what’s best for my career.”
Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said on January 7 that while Hill did not walk back his postgame comments, he also did not ask him for a trade during their exit interview. Coach Mike McDaniel declined to directly respond to Hill’s “emotional” comments but said he and Hill found common ground after the five-time All-Pro removed himself from the Jets game once it became clear Miami’s season was coming to an end.
“We met for, I want to say, an hour,” McDaniel said. “I think I was very direct with him, he was very honest, and it was great terms that we were discussing. Discussed multiple things, including — without wavering — that it’s not acceptable to leave the game and it won’t be tolerated in the future. He embraced accountability, and I wouldn’t say there was anything necessarily to fix as much as we had to clear the air in a rough and tumultuous situation.”
Hill’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, told the Pat McAfee Show on Jan. 9 he believed Hill was “committed” to the Dolphins, although he had yet to speak with his client about the matter at that time.
“What you see with Tyreek, it’s very genuine. He wants to win — it’s not good enough for him not to make the playoffs,” Rosenhaus said. “I think at the end of the day, he’s committed to this Dolphins football team,” he said. “I believe Tyreek is a great asset to the Dolphins and I think he’s the last guy people should be worried about in this organization. They have many more worries — Tyreek Hill’s not one of them.”
After leading the league with 3,509 receiving yards in his first two seasons with the Dolphins, Hill’s productivity dropped significantly in 2024. He recorded 959 receiving yards and six touchdowns on 81 catches; his 56.4 receiving yards per game was his lowest average since his rookie season in 2016. However, Hill told ESPN’s Lisa Salters in November that an MRI showed a torn ligament in his wrist, and that the injury was exacerbated during his detainment by Miami-Dade Police Department officers outside of Hard Rock Stadium before the team’s regular-season opener in September.
Rosenhaus said Hill broke his wrist during the joint practice, and doctors recommended he undergo season-ending surgery — which Hill declined. The wide receiver confirmed to local reporters in November that surgery was “brought up,” and that he’d be “in a good space” to decide on surgery during the offseason.
Hill has two years remaining on the extension he signed with the Dolphins in 2022. He agreed to a restructured contract this past offseason that brought the full guaranteed money total on his contract to $106.5 million — the most fully guaranteed money for a wide receiver in NFL history.