The Kansas City Chiefs were supposed to have solved their wide receiver woes this season. Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown were healthy, second-year man Xavier Worthy was looking to build on a promising rookie season, and they drafted Jalen Royals in the fourth round of the draft.
Now, after Week One, Rice is serving a suspension, Royals wasn't able to play in the opener, and Xavier Worthy's shoulder injury could keep him out for an undisclosed amount of time.
The idea of solving that problem by bringing Tyreek Hill back after trading him away three years ago seems like an unlikely dream, as pointed out here. After all, a fellow AFC team trading away arguably their most talented offensive weapon to the Chiefs—who traded him away because they didn't want to pay the huge contract Hill now has—doesn’t seem realistic. While it definitely isn't a safe bet, Hill's sideline frustrations on Sunday could be a sign that it might be more likely than some may think.
Tyreek and the Dolphins headed for divorce?
Tyreek Hill has never been one to hold back his frustrations. At the end of last season, he was so fed up with the Dolphins that he flat-out said he didn't want to come back to Miami.
"I'm out, bro. It was great playing here, but at the end of the day I gotta do what's best for my career because I'm too much of a competitor to be just out there."
Eventually, either because he calmed down and reconsidered or because the Dolphins couldn't or wouldn't find a willing trade partner, Hill backtracked on the comments and apologized.
At the start of training camp, Tua Tagovailoa admitted that Hill was still in the process of repairing relationships with his teammates after those comments, saying that it was "still a work in progress." Both Tua and Hill said all the right things, and everyone was putting Hill's comments in the past and moving forward.
However, fast forward to Sunday and the Dolphins’ first game of the season, and Hill didn't even make it through the first half before his frustrations boiled over again. A couple of Tagovailoa interceptions helped the Indianapolis Colts (not exactly a team expected to be a powerhouse this season) jump out to a commanding lead, and Hill was seen venting on the sideline.
The Dolphins went on to lose 33-8 and looked really bad in the process. Whether they struggle all season and have to start a rebuild or try to rebound from this horrific start, what they can't have is a malcontent causing issues in the locker room and on the sidelines.
Could a reunion really happen?
Tyreek Hill would jump at the chance to come back to the Chiefs, and if the relationship in Miami is beyond repair, it could mean that the Dolphins would now consider trading him. Knowing Hill's age, temperament issues, and contract, the draft pick price would likely be low. A fourth-round pick might actually get the deal done. If not, possibly a third-round pick for Hill and a fifth- or sixth-round pick.
The bigger issue would be finding the cap space to make adding Hill possible. Hill's cap hit for the Dolphins this season is about $27.7 million. However, a big chunk of that is bonus money that wouldn't go to the team trading for him.
The Chiefs would be responsible for finding a little under $14 million in cap space to make that work, unless the Dolphins were willing to eat some of that money in the deal, which would likely cost KC more in draft pick return. However, there is also the possibility that Hill is desperate enough to reunite with Patrick Mahomes that he would consider reworking his deal to make it work for KC, too.
If the Chiefs did need to make space, they have a couple of options. The general consensus is that the Chiefs are sitting at around $2.4 million in cap space right now. The easiest solution would be to convert Jawaan Taylor's massive salary to bonus money. However, that would mean cutting Taylor this offseason (which seems likely) would no longer free up nearly as much cap space because that bonus money would become dead money if cut.
If the Chiefs didn't want to make Taylor less "cut-able" next offseason, then things get a little trickier. Patrick Mahomes' cap hit is already mostly bonus money this season. So after Taylor, the largest base salaries (that could be converted to bonuses) belong to Chris Jones ($13.75 million) and Trey Smith ($10 million). The Chiefs could move some money around there to make room. The bottom line is that there are ways to make the money work.
If the Chiefs really wanted to get fans excited, they could even try offering a Tyreek Hill-for-Jawaan Taylor trade. That would clear more than enough cap space for the Chiefs to take Hill, and the Dolphins’ current right tackle Austin Jackson hasn't been good.
With Tua being a less mobile quarterback, they might consider Taylor an upgrade in pass protection on the right side. It would be a tough sell to their fans, but stranger things have happened. That deal would make Jaylon Moore the starting right tackle, which many fans would be happy about, but it would definitely be a blow to their offensive line depth should they have injury issues this season.
Chiefs fans would be wise not to get their hopes set on Tyreek Hill returning to KC this season. However, KC's early issues at wideout mixed with Hill's rocky relationship with the Dolphins at least opens the door a crack for fans who want to dream a little bit. Just how likely is this reunion? Only time will tell.