Dolphins receivers excited for new opportunities. And a Tua Tagovailoa update
Tyreek Hill’s season-ending knee injury likely will mean more offensive snaps for receivers Malik Washington and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.
But it also could mean a larger role for Dee Eskridge, and it could mean a game-day activation for the first time in Tahj Washington’s career. Both expressed excitement for the potential opportunities on Friday.
Hill’s snaps could be filled, in the short-term, by more of Malik Washington, Eskridge and Westbrook-Ikhine, plus perhaps more two tight end sets with Darren Waller and Julian Hill. Long-term, receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. will join that mix when he recovers from a knee injury.
Eskridge, a former second round pick of the Seahawks, had 17 catches for 122 yards in 24 games over three seasons for Seattle, which released him just before the start of his fourth season.
The Dolphins signed him to their practice squad two days later and promoted him to the active roster last October, then re-signed him in May. He has 11 catches for 91 yards in 62 offensive snaps in 10 games since joining the Dolphins last season.
This season, he’s averaging 26.2 yards on 11 kickoff returns, which ranks fourth in league among players with at least 10 returns.
Eskridge has the speed that can somewhat help replace that element of what the Dolphins lose with Hill; Eskridge ran a 4.38 in the 40 at his Western Michigan pro day in 2021.
He said he has improved as a receiver since the Seahawks cut him, particularly with his “releases, understanding route dynamics, understanding coverages. I’ve been able to understand it more. I feel for me in this offense, every route I’m prepared to run and can do it at a high level.”
Meanwhile, Tahj Washington said the possibility of being active for the game, after being inactive the first four games, is “very exciting,” adding that his workload in practice didn’t change much this week and that he wasn’t asked to do more on special teams.
Was he disappointed that the Dolphins signed Wilson?
“It’s part of the game, especially in this business; you have to have plenty of bodies,” Washington said. “Things like that happen all the time. It’s not going to change how I come to work and approach it.”
He said receiver coach Robert Prince told him the team planned to sign Wilson: “I appreciate them letting me know.”
Westbrook-Ikhine, who received most of Hill’s snaps after his injury on Monday, has been targeted only six times in the first four games and has four receptions for 26 yards.
Last season, he had 32 catches for 497 yards and nine touchdowns for Tennessee, but only three of those receptions (for 19 yards) came in the first six games.
“Last year, I didn’t get a target first four games of the season,” he said recently, days before Hill’s injury. “It comes and goes. That’s how it’s been my whole career. I’m grateful when you get the opportunities.”
Meanwhile, teammates were heartened to see Hill back at the Dolphins facility on Friday.
“It’s great to just see Tyreek and to be around Tyreek and see him smiling and stuff like that,” Malik Washington said Friday after his visit. “Obviously, he has so much to say. He’s always joking around and stuff like that. But to see him in that moment and to see him so happy and stuff, considering what happened despite what happened, it’s great for us.”
Agent Drew Rosenhaus said the goal is for Hill to be ready by the start of next season and that he would like to remain with the Dolphins. If he returns, it would assuredly be with a different contract.
CBS Sports reported Saturday that Hill likely will be cut after the season, which has been the expectation because his current contract contains a high 2026 base salary ($29.9 million, all non-guaranteed) and other elements that I explained here.
But there remains a possibility he could return on a new contract, depending on his recovery and the whims of the Dolphins’ decision-makers next spring.
Tagovailoa change
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa parted ways with his agent, Ryan Williams, several months ago and said this week that he has no plans to hire a new one at the moment. That certainly could change in the future if Tagovailoa decides he needs one. But for now, he’s not actively seeking an agent.
In February 2023, Tagovailoa hired Williams and his Athletes First colleague, Austin Lyman, to replace Leigh Steinberg, with whom he parted ways weeks earlier.
Williams and Lyman negotiated Tagovailoa’s four-year $212.5 million contract extension 14 months ago. That contract runs through the 2028 season.
Tagovailoa joins Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and Chicago’s Caleb Williams as prominent quarterbacks who do not have a certified agent.
This story was originally published October 4, 2025 at 2:33 PM.
