Tyreek Hill trade buzz resurfaces after Dolphins’ Week 1 disaster, but circumstances and recent history complicate a deal barring one major change
The Tyreek Hill trade rumors are ramping back up. If he’s traded, when could it happen?
A brutal Week 1 loss for the Miami Dolphins doesn’t have to define their season. But a few more performances just like it will almost certainly ensure it does. With a rocky start to the year comes amplified noise off it — ranging from Mike McDaniel and Chris Grier’s job security to the status of players under contract, such as Tyreek Hill.
Hill, who speculated about leaving Miami publicly after Week 18 last season, walked back his comments and tried to say all the right things this offseason — his fourth year in Miami. But his bad week wasn’t limited to just Miami’s lethargic 33-8 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Hill’s ex-wife, Keeta Vaccaro, alleged multiple instances of domestic violence during their marriage in a new court filing. Due process will need to play itself, and the NFL can conduct its own investigation into potential violations of the league’s personal conduct policy.
Amid it all, rumors resurfaced that teams across the NFL are eyeing Hill as a potential trade target. Miami would be foolish not to listen, although it being an actionable item is complicated by the pressure to win and Hill’s latest alleged conduct. When could it be most likely to come to fruition?
Tyreek Hill trade rumors bubbling up again, when could he be dealt?
“I don’t think the Dolphins are thinking of trading Tyreek Hill now, but if the season continues to go this way, obviously, you’d have to think that all options would be on the table at that point in time. They’re trying to turn things around. It’s one game on the road in Indianapolis against a Colts team that hadn’t won an opener in almost 4,400 days that came in inspired with Jim Irsay being inducted into the Ring of Honor…but the Dolphins still think they have a good team. It’s up to them to go out and prove it. So they’re not going to trade away Tyreek Hill now. If they have more games like that and the losses start piling up, I think all of us, logically, would have to think at that point in time, you start looking to the future. But they’re not there right now in Week 1.”
— ESPN’s Adam Schefter on The Pat McAfee Show discussing Miami’s mindset with potential interest in Tyreek Hill
The context from ESPN’s Adam Schefter should be considered a useful reference point for Miami’s frame of mind. This team needs to win for the sake of the head coach and, presumably, the general manager. And, justifiably, the Dolphins should believe they are better than the 33-8 drubbing suggests. The Dolphins do have too much talent for this kind of performance.
If the losses pile up, the question will then be whether the trade deadline or the first firing of those fighting for their jobs comes first. The trade of Davante Adams last year, which took place on Oct. 15, is a useful hint as well. Assuming Miami sustains its coaching staff and front office, a trade feels unlikely any sooner than that — the team will have played its sixth game of the season on Oct. 12. One-third of the season is enough to take the bad medicine if Miami doesn’t pull out of the spiral.
But if owner Stephen Ross meets his wits’ end before that, amid some more ugly losses, Miami could ultimately find moving on sooner rather than later to be a viable possibility.
Indianapolis Colts News
‘I feel like it’s panic mode after that’ – Colts CB Xavien Howard didn’t hold back on his former teammate Tua Tagovailoa
A mic drop type of statement from a new Colt and former Dolphin
