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As we inch closer to the end of the current NFL campaign, it’s become almost impossible to deny there was a single offseason move that turned out to be more consequential than the blockbuster trade that resulted in Russell Wilson watching his legacy crumble after joining the Broncos and allowed Geno Smith to mount one of the more unexpected resurgences in recent memory after seizing on the opportunity to start at QB in Seattle.
Tyreek Hill was also at the center of a fairly unexpected transaction that resulted in plenty of speculation concerning how he’d adjust to a change of scenery, but it’s safe to say he’s fared pretty well after shocking plenty of people with the trade request that ultimately saw the Chiefs ship him off to the Dolphins.
It was pretty easy to argue Hill had committed a pretty major unforced error by forcing his way out of Kansas City. The wide receiver had undoubtedly reaped the benefits of being one of Patrick Mahomes’ favorite targets, and while he repeatedly lauded Tua Tagovailoa with some pretty extreme praise after joining the QB in Miami, it seemed like there was a solid chance he’d end up eating some of those words once the season kicked off.
However, things have worked out for the wideout so far, as he’s well on his way to racking up the most single-season reception yards of his career with a Dolphins team that remains in the playoff hunt with four games remaining on the calendar.
As a result, it doesn’t seem like Hill has any regrets about parting ways with Kansas City—and he said about as much during a recent interview with Shannon Sharpe on Club Shay Shay where he shed a bit more light on what motivated him to seek the trade in the first place.
.@Cheetah wanted to stay in Kansas City with Mahomes & Kelce but explains why he was ready to leave the Chiefs:⁰⁰
“There would be games where I’d get 2-3 targets…I didn’t feel valuable. I had to get out of there.” pic.twitter.com/tsKZRsFzFR
— Club Shay Shay (@ClubShayShay) December 12, 2022
Hill acknowledge he didn’t have any major beef with the Chiefs and praised Andy Reid for helping him grow as a player while making it clear he loved playing alongside the likes of Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
However, he admitted he reached a point toward the middle of last season where he decided he needed to take his talents elsewhere (and make a bit more money in the process) after deciding he wasn’t getting the number of chances he felt he deserved, saying:
“I love playing ball and I love being by the team because football is a team sport, right? It would be some games where I get two targets, I get three targets, and we’d go into meetings and my coach would be like, ‘We gotta get you involved. We gotta get you involved.’
I’m calling my agent every week after they say stuff like that like, ‘Bro, I gotta get out of here.”
It seems like it all worked out in the end.