National Football League

Kansas City Chiefs trade Tyreek Hill to Miami Dolphins

Updated Mar. 23, 2022 6:40 p.m. ET

This NFL offseason just keeps getting wilder.

Another shocking transaction came down Wednesday, as the Kansas City Chiefs traded All-Pro wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins. In return, the Chiefs will receive five draft choices from Miami, including first- and second-round picks in April's draft.

According to multiple reports, Hill will sign a new deal with the Dolphins, making him the highest-paid receiver in the NFL.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported early Wednesday morning that even though K.C. and Hill had been working on a lucrative extension, there was a snag in the negotiations, and the Chiefs opened the door to a trade.

Hill spent the first six years of his career with the Chiefs after being drafted in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft out of West Alabama. And upon landing in K.C., "Cheetah" began to produce shortly thereafter, posting his first 100-catch, 1,000-yard season in 2017.

In 2018, Hill had arguably his best individual season, catching 87 balls for a league-leading 1,479 yards and 12 scores in 16 regular-season games.

Despite only playing 12 games in 2019, he racked up 860 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. In 2020, he registered 1,276 receiving yards and a career-high 15 TDs, before putting up 1,239 receiving yards and nine scores on a career-high 111 receptions in 2021.

Hill has been named first-team All-Pro three times and has made the Pro Bowl every season of his professional career.

Since he entered the league in 2016, Hill's 56 TDs are the third-most in the NFL. He leads the NFL with 21 40-plus yard touchdowns (the Dolphins have 18 since 2016) and 13 50-plus yard touchdowns over the past six seasons.

Hill is one of only four players who have multiple 200-plus yard receiving games since 2016 (Amari Cooper, Ja'Marr Chase, Julio Jones), and one of only two players to have multiple 200-plus receiving yards and multiple TDs (Cooper).

Hill now joins Davante Adams as one of the game's top receivers that found a new home this offseason, after Adams was traded from Green Bay to Las Vegas last week.

Hill bid farewell to the Chiefs and the Kansas City fanbase on social media.

He will now join a Miami receiving corps that features rising second-year pro Jaylen Waddle, who caught 104 passes for 1,015 yards and six touchdowns in 16 games as a rookie.

The Dolphins finished 17th in the NFL last season in passing yards per game (214.8) behind quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who started 12 games last season, going 7-5. He completed 67.8% of his passes for 2,653 yards, 16 TDs and 11 picks.

When the news finally became official, Colin Cowherd delivered it to longtime Chiefs fan Nick Wright live on "The Herd."

"It is going to give my guy Patrick Mahomes a chance to make some of your old Patrick Mahomes commentary look all the more foolish," Wright said. "We have a lot of video of Colin Cowherd saying, ‘Let’s see him without Tyreek Hill.' Well now, we're gonna get to see it.

"Let's go!" Wright added. "I'm fine with it! Underdog Chiefs, back where I feel most comfortable!"

Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless reacted to the trade news before it happened on Wednesday's "Undisputed."

"The Chiefs are not in the position to give him the kind of payday that he wants …" Sharpe surmised. "I'm not surprised because of the money that's being thrown around."

Bayless lauded the unique ability of Hill to take the top off of NFL defenses, and said that because of Hill's deep connection with Mahomes, the trade will greatly affect Kansas City and its passing game.

"[Hill] is as lethal a weapon as I've ever seen at the wide receiver position. The speed is so blinding. … He has in Kansas City a rare rapport with that quarterback. That quarterback trusts him like crazy. It's like he just throws it up to him.

"This would be a huge loss for Patrick Mahomes."

Here's how the NFL world reacted to Wednesday's big trade: