Here’s why receiver Tyreek Hill is No. 1 on our Miami Dolphins’ Top 20 players list
(The final part of a series counting down to the start of 2024 Dolphins training camp.)
The unknowns regarding Tyreek Hill in the 2024 season:
1. How much he’ll get paid now that the receiving market keeps getting reset.
2. Whether he’ll become the first player to have 2,000 receiving yards in a season.
Hill is working on the four-year, $120 million contract he signed shortly after he was traded to the Dolphins. But he’s looking to rework that deal now that Minnesota’s All-Pro, Justin Jefferson, is getting $35 million per season, $5 million more than Hill.
Hill said he wants to be a “Dolphin for life,” but the numbers must work out for that to happen.
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“My job is, obviously, to come out here and continue to do whatever I can to help this team win, whether that’s a restructure, whether that’s whatever the case may be,” Hill said. “We want to make sure it benefits both sides and I want to be able to help the team as much as I can.”
Once the contract is settled, everyone can focus on whether Hill can get his 2,000 yards.
He wasn’t afraid to let everyone know that was his goal last season. And for much of the year, he was ahead of that pace. But late-season injuries left him shy of the finish line.
Still, 119 receptions, 1,799 yards and 13 touchdowns are numbers any receiver would be proud to have.
Why Hill is No. 1
This could be a one-sentence answer: because he has been the team MVP both years in Miami.
Or: because he has been an All-Pro every year in the league.
Or: because he has the most 50-yard catches in the NFL since 2016 (23), third-most TD catches (76), most scrimmage yards by a receiver (10,905) … the list is seemingly endless.
With qualifications like that, you’d assume he’s atop the Dolphins’ receiving record book. You’d be correct. He’s Nos. 1 and 2 on the single-season list in receptions and yards.
Telling stat
Mark Clayton holds the team record with 550 receptions.
Hill is 43 percent of the way there with 238.
Clayton reached his total in 10 seasons.
Hill reached his in two.
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How we see Hill’s future
Hill recently turned 30, so how long will his sprinter’s speed hold up?
The other question goes back to his contract. The current structure calls for him to have cap numbers of $31.3 million this season and $34.2 million in 2025, according to overthecap.com. But the real problem is the number balloons up to $56.3 million for 2026. There’s virtually no chance the Dolphins could absorb that kind of cap hit for a 32-year-old receiver.
Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at hhabib@pbpost.com. Follow him on social media @gunnerhal. Click here to subscribe.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins 2024: Our Top 20 player countdown concludes with Tyreek Hill
