The Miami Dolphins don’t seem to have plans to trade Tyreek Hill right now, but changes might be coming due to issues like players being late to meetings, which hurt the team’s performance in the 2024 season.
Hill spoke with general manager Chris Grier and coach Mike McDaniel on Monday, the day after he hinted that he might want to leave Miami following a loss to the New York Jets. This loss ended a season where the Dolphins missed the playoffs.
Grier mentioned that Hill didn’t take back his postgame comments, where Hill said he liked playing in Miami but also added, “at the end of the day, I’ve got to do what’s best for my career.” However, Hill did not ask for a trade, according to Grier at his end-of-season press conference on Tuesday.
Grier said their conversation was productive but kept the details private. He explained that Hill was very emotional after a tough season, especially after the team had a chance to recover from a 2-6 record, and Hill was playing through a wrist injury.
Hill had only two catches for 20 yards in the last game of the season and left the game late, not returning for the fourth quarter. McDaniel told Hill that leaving the game was not acceptable during their conversation on Monday.
McDaniel also said their relationship is fine.
“I think the competitive spirit of his can represent postgame, especially in a season or a game that nobody likes, it can allude to a relationship being one way,” McDaniel said. “I was very direct with him. He was very honest, and it was great terms that we were discussing.”
They talked about a few things, including the fact that Hill leaving the game was not acceptable and would not be tolerated in the future. Hill accepted responsibility for his actions, and McDaniel said there wasn’t anything that needed to be fixed, just that they cleared the air after a difficult situation.
Hill’s behavior seems to reflect a bigger issue with the Dolphins in 2024, which included players showing up late to meetings multiple times. McDaniel, who is known for being a coach who gets along well with players, said he fined players for this, some more than once, but that it “wasn’t enough” and he plans to change how he handles the situation.
“I think it’s important that guys know we’re at the point in our team where guys are firmly aware of the expectations,” McDaniel said, “and if your actions continually lead to finable offenses, you’re telling me without words that you don’t want to be here. It’s very clear.
I think it’s not an indictment necessarily of all, but we are subject to everyone’s actions as a team, and we’ll address them as such.”
Defensive tackle Zach Sieler said teammates need to push each other to do better next season, especially when it comes to showing up for optional practices and offseason programs.
“What McDaniel does a great job of is preaching the player locker room,” Sieler said, “and I think it needs to come from us as players and leaders and captains as well as the staff … We needed to be on our p’s and q’s earlier in the season and earlier in camp, and I think it’s a point of focus this year and we’re going to make sure we don’t mess that up again.”
McDaniel also told the team in their final meeting that he needs to improve as a coach.
“Mike knows what he needs to do,” linebacker Bradley Chubb said. “He talked to the team, he addressed us about how he’s going to be better as a coach and as a leader of men next year. So he knows exactly what he has to do, and we’re all right there behind him to help move in that same direction.”
Grier said that going 8-9 is not the Dolphins’ standard and that he and McDaniel were disappointed by the result. He pointed out that the Dolphins had been improving in the last two seasons after starting fresh in 2019.
The team made the playoffs in 2022 and 2023 but is still looking for its first playoff win since 2000. The Dolphins had high hopes this season but injuries caused those hopes to fade.
Grier said that the biggest issue was the quarterback. “When he misses six-and-a-half games, when we miss it by a game getting into the playoffs, to me that’s the difference there.”
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who had just signed a big contract extension, missed six games, four of them early in the season after he was diagnosed with his third concussion in two years. A hip injury kept him out for the last two games of the regular season.
Tagovailoa has only had one full season of play, and Grier said the quarterback must focus on staying healthy.
“To see where he’s come from, from his early time here was impressive,” Grier said. “That being said, he needs to be available. He needs to know how to protect himself. You’re going to get hit at times, it’s always going to happen, but he needs to control what he can control. He understands that.
“Not being available for taking chances and risk is unacceptable to us, and he knows that.”
