Cote: Tyreek Hill must make Miami Dolphins champions to complete his greatness and legacy | Opinion
Unless he’d capped his weekend by beating Noah Lyles for 100-meter Olympic gold in Paris Sunday night (and it might’ve been close), the past few of days could hardly have been better for the Cheetah, Tyreek Hill.
In dizzying chronology the star wide receiver received a 99 rating from Madden 25, best ever by a Miami Dolphin; was voted the best player in the league by his peers in NFL.com’s annual top 100 ranking; and then was gifted $90 million ($65M guaranteed) over the next three years in a restructured contract that extends through the 2027 season.
“Appropriate,” said coach Mike McDaniel.
He meant Hill being voted No. 1 as the NFL’s best player, but he could have meant Madden and the money, too.
Said Hill: “You know what’s crazy man? I didn’t celebrate at all, because here’s why – my family, I said, ‘Y’all are so used to me winning and getting stuff, y’all don’t even celebrate with me no more.’ It’s just like we wake up, ‘Oh, you’re No. 1, congrats,’ and we just move on. ‘Oh, you got an extension,’ and we move on. But my grandparents flew in with me and my wife, obviously we went and celebrated with dinner, celebrated the No. 1 the day we got the contract extension. That’s why I play, man, to reach moments like this. I’m always hungry. I told Coach McDaniel, ‘Man, without you, I’d still be getting ranked No. 15 in Kansas City.’ So it’s awesome to be a part of this, man.”
If there was any lingering doubt, erase it. Hill is the NFL’s best receiver and the 2022 mega-trade to get him from Kansas City has succeeded fabulously. With 238 receptions for 3,509 yards and 20 touchdowns in two years, Hill is the main reason quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has blossomed and got the huge contract extension.
He is a team captain and leader who shows every indication, at age 30, of being in his prime and peak of powers. He is the main reason the Dolphins -- dull for so long in the post-Dan Marino decades -- are today a team known for speed and offensive excitement.
Not bad for a 5-10 fifth-rounder out of West Alabama.
The only thing missing now is for Hill to prove himself great enough and powerful enough to lift an entire franchise, an entire city.
To be the man out front leading as Miami and its long-suffering fans celebrate the club’s first Super Bowl victory since the 1973 season or at least first appearance since Marino’s blossoming prime of 1984.
Much is made of the Dolphins’ NFL-worst 23 straight seasons since last winning a playoff game, and that’s a necessary step toward renewed relevance. But it isn’t enough.
With big money comes big responsibility, and Hill s aware.
“It’s a lot man. But at the end of the day, we already had responsibility on our shoulders,” he said Tuesday. “We’ve got too competitive of a team and too great of guys on this team to not win games and we all know that, man. I love it man, I’m absolutely loving it.”
Hill is Hall of Fame-bound. He helped the Chiefs win the 2019-season Super Bowl but also has watched, from Miami, as K.C. and Patrick Mahomes have won the last two without him and now go for an historic three-peat without him.
Hill’s ultimate legacy -- if he is up to the challenge -- is to lead an end to this franchise’s championship drought now exceeding a half century long. He will have a place in Dolphins history and NFL lore if he can.
A rating of 99 in the Madden game is rare and means one is the elite of the elite. Only five players made it this time. The others are two Chiefs, QB Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce, and two San Francisco 49ers, running back Christian McCaffrey and tackle Trent Williams.
The Chiefs rank 1-2 in Super Bowl betting odds as the preseason begins. The Dolphins are down the line at 12th. Can Hill be the player out front to close that gap?
The No. 1 ranking in the NFL.com players vote made Hill the first receiver ever so honored. The next highest were Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb (13th) and Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson (18th).
There has been plenty of questioning over Hill at No. 1. Many others (me included) think the obvious top spot belonged to Mahomes, who finished fourth, after Hill, Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson and McCaffrey.
But what better way for Hill to justify that most lofty status than by being Miami’s ultimate difference-maker?
As for the new contract, I found it quietly very interesting that Miami did not seek an added year or two beyond 2027.
The $106.5 million Hill is fully guaranteed over the next four seasons is the most money ever guaranteed in a contract without added years.
Four more seasons is how long they’ll have their current best player, and ‘27 will also be the season Miami must decide if Tagovailoa merits yet another contract extension or if it’s time to move on. That to me sets the Dolphins’ championship window for this iteration of the team.
The next four seasons also will be prime years for a dozen rising young guys such as Jaylen Waddle De’Von Achane, Jaelan Phillips and Jevon Holland. Jalen Ramsey and Bradley Chubb also are under 30. That also means McDaniel will have had six seasons by then, longer than any Fins coach since Don Shula.
The time is now, the opening of a four-year window symbolized by the money invested in Tagovailoa and Hill.
McDaniel seemed to allude to that Monday in saying, “The team has really responded to how [both players] have responded to [the big contracts], in terms of understanding that as much as that it’s an accomplishment in itself, the bigger goals and where they want their careers to be -- what they want their careers to be known for -- is throughout the team. You want to be a reason why you win.”
Said Hill: “We’re getting better, I promise you. We’re not just sitting around drinking smoothies. We’re getting better.”
Modest improvement won’t cut it. The Dolphins need to make a major leap if this is a team that dares think merely winning a playoff game is just the start.
The numbers say it: The speed, the statistics, the 99 rating, the No. 1 ranking, the $90 million over the next three years.
The numbers all say Tyreek Hill is great.
Making the Miami Dolphins champions again would say it loudest of all.
This story was originally published August 5, 2024 at 12:12 PM.
