Miami Dolphins: Did They Give Up Too Much For Tyreek Hill?

In what seemed like a quiet offseason for the Miami Dolphins, they finally made some noise. What was a free-agent period of safe moves, turned into a very lucrative deal to acquire Tyreek Hill. The Dolphins’ offense struggled with consistency and separation last season so it was time to do something drastic. With an offensive-minded head coach in Mike McDaniel, it was time to get weapons to spark some life into the team. Miami gave up plenty to acquire Hill, but was the cost too high for a team that was stuck in neutral?

While Tyreek Hill instantly upgrades the WR room, does it make them instant contenders as well? With the offseason moves so far, the rest of the AFC isn’t exactly sitting on their hands hoping to get better. Teams have already made their marks on free agency. The Broncos traded for Russell Wilson. The Browns went all-in for Deshaun Watson. The Colts traded for Matt Ryan. Devante Adams ended up in Las Vegas. Von Miller is now a Bill. Those are just the offseason moves. From an organizational standpoint not only did they have to catch up with the rest of the powerhouses in the AFC, they had to keep up with the moves with the rest of the teams playing catch up.

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Of course you can’t forget about the cost of the trade. The Dolphins gave up 5 picks in total to make the deal with the Chiefs, but then they also intended Hill as well. Miami reportedly moved their first-round pick, their second-round pick, and their fourth-round pick this year. Then they gave up their fourth and sixth next year. They’ve been creative in the past with moving players for late-round picks on draft day or shortly before, they could easily get creative and free up some cap space with moves to reacquire those picks. The high value picks they gave up was the first and second rounder. If Tyreek Hill can have the same success that he did in Kansas City, then the Miami Dolphins made a sound investment.

Miami desperately needed an explosive playmaker to take attention off of their other WRs. While Devante Parker and Mike Gesicki are threats on offense, at times they struggled with consistency allowing teams to focus more on Jaylen Waddle. The Dolphins may have a winning formula with the speed and talent on Miami’s offense, there should be no reason their offense can’t make strides.

Each of the three, Parker, Waddle, and Gesicki showed their explosive capabilities in a limited offense. Then the Dolphins added Chase Edmonds, Raheem Mostert, and Cedrick Wilson before throwing plenty of money Tyreek Hill’s way. Once Miami worked on the details of the trade, they focused on extending Hill to the tune of 4 years/$120 mill with $72.2 mill guaranteed, a move we’ve seen with the Deshaun Watson trade.

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While the Miami Dolphins might have emptied the bank for Tyreek Hill, he’s still one of the top NFL receivers. However, at the very minimum it’s a sound investment in their for the foreseeable future. What he brings to Miami is the ability to create multiple levels of mismatches. With speed in multiple spots of the field, it should force plenty of one on one matchups defensively. With their current depth, there should be plenty of opportunities for big plays if teams can’t find ways to double team. If they put too much focus on defending the pass, Miami also has plenty of speed now in the run game. Miami should have the weapons to win games. At the end of the day, you get what you pay for with Hill and he changes the dynamic of the offense.

But that’s what it boils down to with what the Miami Dolphins gave up. They sent their early round picks this year but kept what they had for next year. What they invested in this year was an answer at quarterback. They say they believe in Tua Tagovailoa and gave him the pieces for success. They invested in his success, but gave themselves an out if he can’t get to that next level. They have two first round picks next year and can easily transition if the third-year QB can’t step up. Tyreek Hill puts this Dolphins team over the top pressuring defenses to cover a talented unit. He also puts pressure on the Miami Dolphins decision to stick to their guns on Tua. Can Mike McDaniel come up with a winning formula to get the Dolphins to the next level?