This is only the beginning, isn't it?
The Miami Dolphins finished the 2024 season with an 8-9 record and won't be going to the playoffs for the first time since 2021 when they were in the final year of the Mike Flores era. It's the first time that Tyreek Hill has missed the playoffs during his nine-year career, and the Dolphins wide receiver wasn't happy about that fact.
Hill mentioned how he's "too much of a competitor to be just out there" and also said that he's "out". Hill didn't play in the fourth quarter, and Mike McDaniel said he was told the wide receiver was "unavailable". This led some to believe that Hill knew the Kansas City Chiefs' backups and third-stringers were getting blasted by the Denver Broncos' starters and that his team wasn't going to the playoffs, so why try?
If that wasn't enough drama already, Hill has made things even worse by photoshopping a picture of himself onto Antonio Brown's body in the game where Brown infamously quit on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his team at the time. This photo is now Hill's profile picture on his X account.
Tyreek Hill seems to confirm he quit on the Dolphins on social media
By photoshopping himself onto Brown, Hill seemed to confirm that he had no interest in going back on the field when the game was out of reach and his team had no shot of going to the postseason. Not reaching the playoffs is new territory for Hill, as he made it to the dance in each of his six seasons in Kansas City and then his first two years in Miami.
Being spoiled with postseason games for his entire career clearly hasn't prepared Hill for this moment, but it's not a shocker that the Dolphins missed out on the playoffs. They didn't have Tua Tagovailoa for six games, and when he wasn't on the field, the offense was a completely different product (and not a very good one).
It'll be interesting to see what happens with Hill this offseason. He said straight-up that he was "out" and has pretty much said goodbye to the organization that gave up a lot to trade for him in 2022, but he's under contract for two more years and is still a very good receiver. He might not have gotten to 1,000 yards this year, but he came close with 959.
One thing seems clear though, and that's that the drama here has only just begun.
