Tyreek Hill has some important work ahead of him. That's why no one should count him out going forward, despite some significant (and rather obvious hurdles).
In Week 4, Hill suffered a season-ending leg injury in the third quarter of the Miami Dolphins' 27-21 win over the New York Jets on Monday Night Football. Hill had his leg twisted while being tackled out of bounds following his sixth catch of the game.
Reports after the game confirmed Hill had multiple torn ligaments, including his ACL, and a dislocated knee. Further details will be provided regarding the necessity of surgery and a potential timetable for his return.
It's that last part—Hill's eventual return to the game—that fans can bank on. That's because Hill has important work ahead of him.
The hurdles in Tyreek Hill's path back to the field
The obstacles in Hill's way at this point are obvious. First, any major leg injury is going to affect a player's effectiveness. The reports at this stage admit multiple torn ligaments, so the extent of the damage is going to complicate matters, and the twisted nature of the injury (literally) is going to be a signficant.
Some injuries feature a clean fracture or a partial tear of an important ligament, which still means serious rehab for the player, but at least it's straightforward. In Hill's case, there's still a cloud of mystery around the work to be done, so it's too early to say for sure here.
Further complicating matters is the fact that Hill will turn 32 years old next March. It's one thing for a younger player to bounce back from a major injury, but Hill will be challenging that notion given his extensive experience. For some players, such an injury might even be the mental challenge that pushes them to consider stepping away from the game.
Why Tyreek Hill is a good bet to stay effective
For all that's standing in Hill's way at this point, it'd still be foolish to bet against his effective return—even as an injured player in his early thirties.
First, Hill has an exemplary record of staying healthy. He's missed a single game in his tenure with the Miami Dolphins since arriving for the 2022 season following a trade from the Kansas City Chiefs. Even in K.C., Hill had a single clavicle injury (2019) that forced him to miss four games.
More importantly, Hill is still one of the single most dynamic players in the National Football League. It's easy to forget that fact when he's mired in Miami, but even at age 31, Hill was clocked with the 10th fastest time for any ball carrier in the NFL this year when he hit 21 miles per hour in Week 2.
Even though he was injured, Hill still led the Dolphins with 6 catches for 67 yards in Week 4. His 21 catches and 265 yards leads Miami on the season, and his yards per route (12.6) is nearly a full yard higher than last season, when he missed the 1K-yard mark (which caused some viewers to predict his downfall).
The Hall of Fame work in front of Hill
At the present moment, Tyreek Hill's production is already Hall of Fame-worthy. He has 816 catches, 11,363 receiving yards, and 83 receiving touchdowns. He also has another 114 career rushes for 819 yards and 7 more scores. Oh yeah, there are five more touchdowns from his tenure as the NFL's best returner before focusing entirely on offense for the Chiefs.
Despite the 8 Pro Bowls, the 5 first-team All-Pro honors, and the Super Bowl ring, Hill is also facing significant reputation concerns that have plagued him in both Kansas City and Miami. Given the glut of qualified wide receivers still waiting for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, Hill might have more work to do—important work—to cement his spot.
The Dolphins are likely heading for a wholesale reset of the organization—or they should be—which means Hill's looming cap hit of $51 million will be addressed following the season. As a post-June 1 cut, the Dolphins can stagger the dead cap hit of $28 million over two years, and for a franchise trying to turn things around, it makes sense they'd cut their losses with an aging, injured receiver like Hill.
The likely scenario is that Hill will be a late-signing free agent next year after he's able to prove himself healthy. Could that mean a return to the Kansas City Chiefs? Hollywood Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Tyquan Thornton are all one-year flyers who will hit free agency, so there's definitely room for such conjecture. And a homecoming would be a nice late-career storyline for those HOF voters.
It's a tall order to expect Hill to put together another 1,000-yard season in 2026, but even if he's able to return and add some modest totals to his already robust career marks, Hill could find himself near the top 30 NFL receivers all-time in yardage—550 more yards puts him over Michael Irvin, for example, at No. 33 overall. Another 50 receptions gets him just outside the top 30 there as well. Five more touchdowns leaps Andre Reed for No. 18 overall—and those are just receiving numbers.
While Hill is undoubtedly going to lose something from his game in this recovery process, his elite speed and completeness as the receiver should keep him effective as a weapon going into 2026 (and perhaps beyond). Even a serviceable season after the injury would give him an appreciated chapter in a Hall of Fame story that could make the difference.
Tyreek Hill might be out, for now, but there's important work ahead of him. And that's why no one should believe this to be the end of his NFL career.