When the Kansas City Chiefs host the Los Angeles Chargers in this week’s Thursday night NFL matchup, it will be the first home game at Arrowhead Stadium in seven years the Chiefs won’t have speedy wide receiver Tyreek Hill.
Kansas City has moved on, while the six-time Pro Bowler has, too.
What happened to Tyreek Hill?
Hill was traded from Kansas City to the Miami Dolphins in late March, in exchange for a haul of five draft picks spread over the 2022 and 2023 NFL drafts.
Hill signed a four-year, $120 million contract extension with Miami that included $72.2 million guaranteed, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
In August, Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said he told Miami general manager Chris Grier to “tell them they can have everything” when he found out Hill was available.
“I quite honestly thought he was one of the untouchable guys that you couldn’t get,” McDaniel said during an an appearance on “The Dan LeBatard Show with Stugotz,” per CBS Sports. “When (Grier) comes in and tells me that the Chiefs have talked to him, I said, ‘Chris, that’s one of the only non-quarterbacks where you do whatever it takes.’”
Why did the Chiefs trade Tyreek Hill?
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport explained back in March that Hill and the Chiefs were in talks on a contract extension when the wide receiver market exploded.
It was the Davante Adams deal, in particular, when he was traded from the Green Bay Packers to the Las Vegas Raiders (for five years, $140 million) that made Hill ask the Chiefs to reevaluate their offer.
A contract impasse ensued, and that’s why Hill ended up in Miami with a hefty extension.
“I tried my best,” Hill told Pro Football Talk. “I talked to the big man, (coach) Andy Reid. I talked to the quarterback (Patrick Mahomes). I’m like, ‘Look, can we make something happen? Can we make something happen? Can the guaranteed money make sense to me? Can it make sense to my family, please?’”
How did Tyreek Hill do in his Miami Dolphins debut?
Hill caught eight passes for 94 yards — both team highs — in the Dolphins’ 20-7 win over the New England Patriots.
He also was targeted 12 times, a team high, in helping Tua Tagovailoa throw for 270 yards in the win.
Who do the Chiefs have at wide receiver with Tyreek Hill gone?
Mecole Hardman is the lone holdover at wide receiver from last season currently on Kansas City’s active roster.
The Chiefs went shopping for wideouts this offseason, bringing in former Green Bay Packer Marquez Valdes-Scantling (three-year contract), former Pittsburgh Steeler JuJu Smith-Schuster (one-year deal) and veterans Corey Coleman (one year) and Justin Watson (one year).
They also used a second-round draft pick on Skyy Moore, a speedy wideout out of Western Michigan.
In Kansas City’s season-opening win over the Arizona Cardinals, Smith-Schuster led all Chiefs wide receivers with six catches for 79 yards, Valdes-Scantling added four grabs for 44 yards, Moore had one reception for 30 yards and Hardman snagged three catches for 16 yards and one touchdown.
The Chiefs were led in receiving by seven-time Pro Bowl tight end Travis Kelce, who had eight catches for 121 yards and a touchdown.