Where Things Stand With Tyreek

Miami Dolphins GM Chris Grier and coach Mike McDaniel addressed the touchy Tyreek Hill situation Tuesday

Former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino shakes hands with wide receiver Tyreek Hill (10) after the game against the Cleveland Browns at Huntington Bank Field. / Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

Miami Dolphins GM Chris Grier was asked to shed some light Tuesday about the situation involving wide receiver Tyreek Hill and provided some answers.

But significant questions remain.

Hill made headlines with his explosive postgame comments — highlighted by "I'm out" — that followed his decision to take himself out of the season finale against the New York Jets ostensibly because the scoreboard showing the Denver Broncos routing the Kansas City Chiefs was telling him there was no more playoff hope for the Dolphins.

Speaking along with head coach Mike McDaniel at the annual end-of-season press conference — after owner Stephen Ross released a statement Sunday night confirming both would be back for at least another season — Grier was asked about Hill right after he made a brief opening statement.

“I will say Mike and I both had conversations with Tyreek here yesterday, productive conversations," Grier said. "I will keep those between us. The one thing I would say is in a frustrating season, he was very emotional in a game where we had a chance coming back from 2-6. I would say that’s probably the thing I’m most proud of the players and Mike and the coaching staff; that we were 2-6 and were playing Week 18 to potentially sneak in the playoffs. And I think all of that with him playing through his injury just kind of bubbled to a point and from our conversations – again, we’ll keep that private – but we had productive conversations.”

Then came an important follow-up, and that was whether Hill backtracked at all from his comments.

Grier said Hill didn't, but then added that the volatile wide receiver "never asked for a trade with me."

Then it was McDaniel's turn, and the question for him was whether his relationship with Hill was fixable.

“The relationship – we met for I want to say an hour yesterday, and I think the competitive spirit of his can represent postgame, especially in a season or a game that nobody likes, it can allude to a relationship being one way," McDaniel said. "I was very direct with him. He was very honest and it was great terms that we were discussing. Discussed multiple things including without wavering that it’s not acceptable to leave a game and won’t be tolerated in the future, and he embraced accountability. I wouldn’t say there’s anything necessarily to fix as much as we had to clear the air in a rough and tumultuous situation.”

Hill didn't speak to the media Tuesday, but he made another move on social media to perhaps indicate his state of mind.

And this one clearly was better than the one Monday.

Hill went back to his smaller profile picture on X showing him in a Dolphins uniform after putting up a picture of Antonio Brown barechested as he walked out on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the middle of a game, only with his face digitally superimposed.

As with all things Tyreek, that simply may have been a case of trolling, however tone deaf it might have been.

The truth is it's difficult to see what Hill has to be upset about.

It can't be a financial issue after the Dolphins restructured his contract before the season to give him more money, new guarantees and additional money up front despite having two years left on the deal.

If it's a frustration issue because of the way the Dolphins season went, that makes more sense, although it should be pointed out that Hill should show more composure at the end of a playoff-less season unless he thought the postseason always was guaranteed because his teams always had gotten there in his first nine NFL seasons.

If anyone wants to suggest he didn't like how he was used in 2024, we'll point out that despite his numbers being down and falling short of the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in a season with more than 12 starts, he still led the Dolphins in targets with 123, 12 more than tight end Jonnu Smith.

All things considered, it's entirely possible that Hill boiled over with frustration late in that Jets game Sunday night and simply didn't handle things as well as he could have and should have.

The idea of the Dolphins trading Hill shouldn't be dismissed, particularly if he indeed meant it when he said he wanted out, but there will be a cap hit involved if they do make the move, they likely would get equal value in return because of Hill's $27 million guaranteed next year, and their offense will lose its most dynamic playmaker.

Hill figures to use social media at some point to shed some light on his thinking after some days have passed and we'll get a better of where things might be headed, but there unfortunately wasn't much more clarity coming on this day.