It feels like the end of an era for the Dolphins after Tyreek Hill’s injury — and the next steps should reshape futures on all sides
What comes next for Tyreek Hill, the Miami Dolphins, and the key parties on the roster?
Even when the Miami Dolphins win, they’re enduring heavy losses in 2025. Miami prevailed over the New York Jets on Monday Night Football 27-21, snapping a three-game losing streak for the Dolphins to open the 2025 season. Miami posted their most complementary game to date — forcing three turnovers and jumping on top of the Jets early to mitigate a dominant Jets running game.
But Miami, in the process, lost wide receiver Tyreek Hill for the season. And, potentially, for good. The Dolphins and Hill were engaged in a delicate dance all offseason long to prove to the world, and probably themselves, that things between the two would be alright after a late season rift in 2024.
Hill’s final play of 2025 saw him haul in a third-down conversion from Tua Tagovailoa before going down in a twisted heap along the Jets’ sideline. He was subsequently carted off and spent last night at the hospital for testing, imaging, and observation. This morning’s update has confirmed the worst — a dislocated knee with multiple ligament tears.
Tyreek Hill’s knee injury is confirmed to be a devastating one — what is next?
Hill’s season is over. All that fuss and circus for three and a half games and now the Dolphins are charged with picking up the pieces. First and foremost, the future is now in Miami. Tua Tagovailoa was signed to be a franchise quarterback. Jaylen Waddle was signed to a handsome contract extension as one of the team’s best draft picks of the last five years — it averages $28 million per season. Running back De’Von Achane has been a delightful dual threat back on a rookie contract.
There are teams that have less to work with than Miami — even without Tyreek Hill. It’s time to be the players your’e capable of being if you’re on that list. And fast.
Those players are going to be charged with elevating their game, plus the ancillary players in the offense (and the wide receiver room in particular) are now going to have to collectively eat up Hill’s snaps. For a team in the midst of a youth movement, this is the opportunity to assess your group both for their individual long-term ceilings and to determine what kind of players would benefit to play around them that may go on the offseason shopping list.
Wide receiver Tyreek Hill’s career with Miami Dolphins:
- Hill arrived in Miami in 2022 as a part of a blockbuster trade between the Dolphins & the Chiefs.
- Hill has posted 340 receptions for 4,733 receiving yards and 27 receiving touchdowns as a member of the Dolphins organization.
- Hill has one year remaining on his current contract with the Dolphins and turns 32 years old next March.
But then there’s Hill himself.
Many fans have reached out with questions about his contract — it’s a reality amid a devastating injury that the Dolphins are going to have to have some frank conversations about. Hill has no guarantees for 2026. None. $11 million of his compensation in 2026 guarantees on the third day of the league year next March — so consider that the deadline by which Miami will need to make a decision. But there’s not really much of a decision to make here. The early reports have Hill undergoing surgery today but the start of the 2026 season, based on the severity of Hill’s injury, is very much in doubt.
Miami owes Hill a total of $36 million in compensation in 2026. But again, none of it is guaranteed, even for injury. And so if the time away helps these two sides fortify their relationship with one another, perhaps Hill’s tenure in Miami will see more snaps and a chance for a redemption story in 2026. But it won’t come on his current contract.
That’s probably the ONLY thing that’s actually fully guaranteed about Hill’s contract for 2026.