Depending on who you ask, the Kansas City Chiefs may already be clear winners of the Tyreek Hill trade with the Miami Dolphins.
The Chiefs and Dolphins sent the NFL world into an absolute frenzy when they struck the deal involving Hill, who was considered arguably the best non-quarterback offensive player in the league at the time. At least, the Dolphins believed that, and they proved it with the hefty price they paid.
Now, the Dolphins have fired head coach Mike McDaniel in a shocking move, considering McDaniel was assisting the team in their search for a new general manager. They are likely going to be moving on from Tua Tagovailoa in the 2026 offseason, and along with him, wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Is there any doubt left at this point about the Chiefs being the clear winners of the 2022 blockbuster deal?
Chiefs have clearly "won" the Tyreek Hill trade with the Dolphins after Mike McDaniel firing
Back in March of 2022, the Chiefs sent the star receiver to the Miami Dolphins for a whopping five draft picks: a 2022 first-round pick (No. 29 overall), a 2022 second-round pick (No. 50 overall), a 2022 fourth-round pick, and 2023 fourth and sixth-round picks. On top of it all, the Dolphins made Hill the highest-paid receiver in the league.
Out of all those selections, the one that's really paying the most dividends right now for the Chiefs is cornerback Trent McDuffie. The Chiefs used the 1st-rounder acquired from the Dolphins to move up and select McDuffie in the 2022 draft, and he's emerged as one of the best cornerbacks in the league since then.
There's no denying that the Chiefs' offense and passing game have slowly declined since Hill was traded, but the fact remains that they were able to win back-to-back Super Bowls after the trade. They were not only "just fine" without Hill, they became a dynasty without him.
Meanwhile, Hill had some incredible years for the Miami Dolphins. It's probably fair to say that Mike McDaniel's vision for Hill within his offense even came to life. But ultimately, it amounted to nothing more than a couple of great seasons. And Hill has become a distraction for that team in recent years, along with suffering a season-ending injury in 2025.
His future with Miami is probably not a future with Miami at all.
Again, depending on how you view trades, you might have said the Chiefs won this trade the moment they won the Super Bowl in the 2022 season. But now that McDaniel has been fired, and the Dolphins are about to hit the reset button as a franchise, it's become clear that the Chiefs were better off.