A Tyreek Hill trade would be limited by his contract details

The Miami Dolphins gave wide receiver Tyreek Hill a generous three-year, $90 million extension in August of 2024, fully guaranteeing his 2024 and 2025 compensation to make him happy in the wake of a bunch of new receiver contracts being handed out elsewhere in the league.

Following the Dolphins’ disappointing 2024 season that saw them fall short of the playoffs and Hill put up lackluster numbers with Tua Tagovailoa sidelined for multiple games (again), the enigmatic receiver pretty much said he wanted out of South Beach.

The contract ramifications of this are massive to both the Dolphins and the team acquiring Hill.

Despite the big numbers reported in 2024, in reality it was a two-year, fully guaranteed $53ish million deal with a third-year team option for $36 million that isn’t guaranteed. He has played one of those two guaranteed years, making $26.5 million in the process, which means roughly $26.85 million in guaranteed money still remains.

When they extended him, Miami guaranteed Hill his $1 million roster bonus in mid-March 2025 plus a $15.85 million option bonus that must be exercised by the end of August 2025 and his $10 million base salary that is paid out during the 2025 season. That’s $26.85 million owed to Hill in fully guaranteed money.

He also could earn up to $1.8 million in per-game roster bonuses in 2025, but that $105,882 per game is not guaranteed.

Hill has a lot of financial leverage here.

Hill’s $36 million compensation in 2026 has no guarantees, for what it’s worth. It was added to pump up the yearly average more than anything.

If he is on the Dolphins, he’s not likely to agree to a pay cut when all of it is currently fully guaranteed. The $1 million roster bonus in mid-March 2025 plus a $15.85 million option bonus and his $10 million base salary is going to be paid to the tune of $26.85 million and he could earn another $1.8 million in per-game roster bonuses.

This is why Hill has the confidence to speak out quasi-demanding a trade or at least input on the Dolphins’ decisions moving forward.

The Dolphins would essentially be trading the guaranteed money on Hill’s contract if they moved him. They could pay some or all of the bonuses in order to secure more compensation, but the reason to trade him is to get out from the remaining guaranteed money while potentially ridding themselves of a locker room problem.

Ideally for the Dolphins, Miami would trade him before the March roster bonus and clear all $26.85 million they owe him in roster bonuses and salary. How many teams are willing to take that on and have the cap space to do it? At least 18 teams have the cap space right now, but wanting to is a different story.

Even if the Dolphins eat the $1 million roster bonus, none of the other money is owed to him until August, so this could be a long process if one of the sides digs in.

The Dolphins have paid Hill around $79.5 million but have only accounted for about $51 million of that, per Over the Cap. That means the Dolphins’ dead cap hit — the amount of money they have paid but haven’t accounted for yet — would be in the neighborhood of $28 million. (The numbers are worse at Spotrac, for what it’s worth, at more than $41 million in dead money.)

Hill’s cap hit if he is on the roster in 2025 is just under $28 million, so it wouldn’t be terribly difficult to move on from him cap-wise, though they would lose some flexibility. If they started paying those bonuses, however, his dead cap hit would continue to go up with every dollar.

Miami would have to start cutting players or restructuring contracts in order to make it work, but that would be a pretty easy thing to do.

A team trading for Hill could take on all of his 2025 guaranteed compensation; $1 million roster bonus in mid-March 2025, a $15.85 million option bonus, and his $10 million base salary. That’s $26.85 million owed to Hill in fully guaranteed money.

If I were the new team, I would make the Dolphins pay his $1 million roster bonus in March and take on his $15.85 million roster bonus. That would leave me with just $10 million in base salary plus $1.8 million in potential per-game roster bonuses to pay Hill for 2025.

At less than $12 million for Hill, I’d be willing to work out a deal for the receiver. Nothing is guaranteed in the contract beyond 2025. This would probably net a nice draft pick on Day 2 or Day 3 of the 2025 NFL Draft.

Hill’s massive compensation is a roadblock, but if the Dolphins absorb most or all of those bonuses, there is a path forward.

The Bills sent a third-round pick to the Browns for half a season of Amari Cooper but he was making the NFL minimum salary. The Jets sent a third-rounder to the Raiders for Davante Adams in a very similar move, but NY paid him $11.6 million for a half season in 2024. Kansas City had Tennessee pay part of DeAndre Hopkins’ salary before sending a fifth-round pick and paying him $5.5 million for his second half of 2024.

At $10 to $12 million for Hill, a second-round pick or a third-round pick with some other compensation isn’t out of the question, but I think that’s on the very highest end.

There is one more element to any deal, however. Will Hill ask for 2026 guaranteed money as part of the trade agreement? He turns 31 this offseason and is a receiver known for speed, so would you want to guarantee money to a 32-year-old speedy receiver who could be on the decline? That could drive the trade compensation down, too.

With all that being said, I think an early Day 3 pick is probably the sweet spot if Miami takes on those bonuses. If they don’t eat the money, the Dolphins could be looking at what the Chiefs got for L’Jarius Sneed; just a pick swap plus the financial relief.