Tyreek Talk: Career Plans, Meeting McDaniel, and More
Tyreek Hill couldn't help but do a little trash talking when he recently appeared on the podcast of former Kansas City Chiefs teammates Anthony Sherman and Gehrig Dieter.
Toward the end of the 45-minute podcast, Hill made it a point that he wanted to say something and referenced the Miami Dolphins' 2023 game against the Chiefs in Kansas City.
"Chiefs Kingdom, when the Miami Dolphins come to Arrowhead Stadium this year, guess what we gonna do." Hill said. "Guess what we gonna DO! I hate to say it, man. I hate to throw up the peace sign against y'all. I hate to do it! But guess what? I'm gonna be y'all worst enemy that day. I'm gonna be y'all worst enemy that day."
While Hill made it clear he was just having fun with the trash talking, he did sound more serious in addressing other topics with Sherman and Dieter, such as a career plans, the genesis for the contract demands that led to his trade to the Dolphins last offseason, his first meeting with head coach Mike McDaniel, and building relationship with his new Miami teammates.
THREE MORE YEARS FOR HILL?
Maybe the most significant revelation by Hill during the podcast was his plan to play three more seasons and then retire.
Hill technically is signed for four more years through the 2026 season, but that last year was tacked on to spread out the signing bonus he's got and the Dolphins would save $45 million of cap space if they were to release him in that 2026 offseason.
Hill is heading into his eighth NFL season and three more would help him match Sherman's 10 years as an NFL fullback.
"I'm going for 10, man," Hill said. "I'm gonna finish out this contract with the Dolphins and then I'm gonna call it quits. I want to go into the business side. I want to do so many things in my life, bro.
"So I really want to get into like the gaming space. I really want to get huge in that and that's kind of what I'm doing right now. I'm using my platform, creating a gaming team, which isn't launched yet. It should launch by the end of this month (Soul Runner Gaming). I'm gonna just sign like different content creators, different athletes.I just been working that, talking to different sponsors."
MAKING FRIENDS IN MIAMI
Hill told Sherman and Dieter he was a little apprehensive last offseason about trying to form new relationships after spending six seasons with the Chiefs, but that didn't last long.
"I had like one or two friends on the team already and they kind of like introduced me once they had like a party or whatever in Miami and all the guys were there," Hill said. "And it kind of broke the ice right there. I fit right in with the guys. Jaylen Waddle, he's one of my closest teammates, Tua obviously the quarterback and some of the some of the rest of the guys. Xavien Howard. I'm cool.
"So, at first I was nervous, but once I met them at the party, we got inside of the locker room it was just like we were at the barber shop. We were having a good time cracking jokes. I was beating them at Madden and 2K and they were like, 'Hey, this dude is good at everything.' "
HILL'S INITIAL MEETING WITH McDANIEL
Head coach Mike McDaniel has earned kudos for the positivity in his relationship with Tua Tagovailoa and telling him from the start how much he believed in him.
Well, the same kind of positive feedback was at play when McDaniel met his new star wide receiver last offseason.
"You know what's crazy, as soon as I got off the plane in Miami after I had signed my deal or whatever, he shook my hand, he was like, 'You ready to go for 2000?' " Hill explained. "I was like, whoa! I was like, whoa, oh. 2000? The Calvin Johnson record? 2000? Are you talking about something else? So yeah, I was definitely excited, man.
"I already knew that Jaylen Waddle was a special talent and I kind of watched the offense when he was in San Fran and the way they used Deebo (Samuel) and the way they use (Brandon) Aiyuk or whatever and I was just imagining myself inside of that offense. Right? And here I am, 1700 yards later."
OTHER HILL PODCAST HIGHLIGHTS
Hill on the Dolphins' new Baptist Health Training Complex: "Oh, facilities are A-plus. The new facility is dope, man. Just everything inside is great. Food is great. They got chefs all the time. It's great, man. The training room is beautiful. The indoor facility is beautiful. All of that is nice."
Hill on what led to the contract demands that led to his trade to Miami:Â (Christian Kirk) signed the deal and like he surpassed me and I'm like, bro, I compete on the field and I also compete on the business out of this too. So I'm not going to let Christian Kirk have a higher contract than me. I'm not. I'm just not."
Hill on the Dolphins' draft needs: "Obviously we got rid of our tight end (Mike Gesicki), he went to the Patriots and there are some good tight ends in this draft. You got the kid from Georgia (Darnell Washington), you got the kid from Utah (Dalton Kincaid), you got the kid from Iowa (Sam LaPorta, who's good. Tight end or a linebacker. We don't got no inside linebacker. He (Elandon Roberts) went to the Steelers."