The conversation revolving around the Miami Dolphins‘ Super Bowl champion and All-Pro receiver, Tyreek Hill, is growing increasingly contentious.
One one hand, on top of losing one of the most supremely talented athletes in the NFL, the Dolphins are flirting with a potential cap hit of north of $50 million for a player that would no longer be rostered on their team.
“If Hill is released before June 1,” wrote SI’s Alain Poupart in his Tyreek Hill contract analysis. “His cap number for 2025 will go from its current $27.7 million to $55.9 million but he’ll be off the books in 2026.”
On the other hand, Dolphins fans are getting tired of the constant antics and ’embarrassing’ headlines coming from the marriage.
“Well, the team played with fire, and ultimately, they got burned,” wrote Brian Marr of dolphinstalk.com. “These numbers aren’t ideal, but it would be better than keeping him on the team and risking further embarrassment.”
The dilemma the Dolphins front office must face head on is if the team can continue to accept this metaphorical black eye on the brand, or if making a move that is financially ineffectual is best for the team.
“Releasing Hill may not financially make sense,” wrote Brian Miller of the Phin Phanatic. “But it would be the type of move that clearly says the Dolphins’ culture is more important than any singular individual.”
Tyreek Hill’s Contract By The Numbers
There’s always a work around when it comes to the NFL cap. For the Dolphins, it will come down to their willingness to wait.
As Poupart said, if the team decided they wanted to cut ties immediately, they are staring down the barrel of $56 million in dead cap space this season. However, if the Dolphins waited a month and a half, this cap blow would change to roughly $40 million in 2025 and $16 million in 2026
Stay with me here.
If the Dolphins were to trade the 31 year-old phenom who lead the entire league in receiving yards just a season ago, it would bring a one time cap hit of $28.3 million, then he would be off the books for good.
Applying the same logic, if the Phins waited for a post-June 1st designation and then traded Cheetah, this would split the $28.3 million into $12.7 million in 2025 and $15.5 million in 2026.
Revisiting All Of Tyreek’s Dust Ups
Avoiding any accusations regarding Tyreek Hill’s conduct before arriving in South Beach, there is still plenty to cover when it comes to the receivers antics.
Most recently, the police were called the Tyreek Hill’s residence following a domestic dispute at the receiver’s home. No charges were filed.
“Officers responded to a call from Hill’s mother-in-law, who told them Hill was ‘very aggressive and impulsive’ and that she was ‘afraid for her daughter’,” wrote ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques. “According to Hill’s mother-in-law, Hill and his wife, got into an argument and he threw her laptop to the floor before grabbing their 4-month-old daughter and heading to the balcony of their 35th-floor apartment.”
In 2023, Hill was investigated for assaulting an employee at a boating store in Miami. A settlement was reached and no other charges were pressed.
In 2024, Hill was detained on his way into Hard Rock Stadium during an altercation that eventually made NFL headlines for weeks. A verbal altercation turned physical when the receiver was pulled from his car, slammed to the ground, and put in handcuffs.
Finally, before the most recent event, Hill placed himself in the medias eye when he removed himself from the team’s week 18 game early, refusing to re-enter. He then took to social media to insinuate that he would not be returning to the Dolphins for another season. Though he would later take back these comments and rework his deal with the team entering the 2025 season.
