Dolphins' looming split with Tyreek Hill stems back to awkward 2024 incident

The Miami Dolphins are entering an offseason expected to be rife with change. Jeff Hafley and Jon-Eric Sullivan are now in charge, and the Dolphins are going to be undergoing some big changes this offseason.

Tua Tagovailoa is almost certainly not going to start in 2026 for the Dolphins, as Miami plans to shift gears as a franchise, entering a mini-rebuild as they move on from Tagovailoa.

Veteran wide receiver Tyreek Hill is also someone who's likely gone this offseason. But, this isn't just a simple move to save money. As Bill Barnwell of ESPN notes, this eventual release or trade would be over a year in the making.

Dolphins-Tyreek Hill split over a year in the making

"The clock started ticking on Hill's tenure with the Dolphins when he refused to enter the Week 18 game against the Jets in 2024 before suggesting that he wanted to play elsewhere afterward to reporters," Barnwell writes.

That incident, at the end of the 2024 season, did not sit well with the Dolphins. It's the expected result, and even at the start of the year, Tagovailoa called out Hill for that action.

It was an awkward situation, as the Dolphins had no realistic way to move on from Hill in 2025. They just had to wait out the year and hope to recoup some value in the future.

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But his brutal season-ending injury, combined with an absurd $36 million contract in 2026, is making Hill's future all the more certain.

The Dolphins are going to release Hill, barring a team being willing to pay $36 million for Hill coming off a brutal leg injury.

Barnwell notes that it's a "safe bet" that Hill has played his last snap in Miami, and this all stems back to that incident at the end of the 2024 season.

This split has been over a year in the making, and with a new regime in charge, it's even more likely for Hill to be on a new team next season after a disappointing end to his Dolphins tenure.

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