The Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs face off in Germany this weekend in what may end up being the best international NFL game yet. This matchup features two top-five offenses and the two current MVP frontrunners in Patrick Mahomes and Tua Tagovailoa, but is also a revenge matchup for one player.
Star wideout Tyreek Hill was traded from the Chiefs to the Dolphins in March of 2022 for five draft picks, including a first-rounder. At first, some thought Hill was wrong for leaving Mahomes for Tagovailoa, but he’s playing the best football he’s ever played. Despite this, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said the trade worked out for both sides.
“I think that was a trade that worked out well for both parties,” Hunt said, via KSHB 41. “Obviously, Tyreek’s an incredible player and has done very well in his time with the Dolphins, but I also think it benefited the Chiefs. The draft compensation that we received, a lot of that draft capital was used to improve our defense, and I think this year we’re seeing that it did indeed work out well. We’ve got a number of really talented young defensive players, many of whom were part of that trade.”
Two notable players Kansas City added with those picks from Miami were cornerback Trent McDuffie and wide receiver Skyy Moore. Surprisingly, Hill’s departure didn’t affect the Chiefs like many thought it would, as Kansas City went on to win the Super Bowl in its first season without Hill. Travis Kelce shouldered the load in the receiving game with 1,338 yards and a career-high 12 touchdowns, and then-newcomer JuJu Smith-Schuster caught 78 passes for 933 yards and three touchdowns.
In what was another surprise, Hill’s production took off after he left Andy Reid. In 2022, Hill caught a career-high 119 passes for a career-high 1,710 yards and seven touchdowns for the Dolphins. This season, he leads the league with 1,014 receiving yards and eight touchdowns through eight weeks. Hill’s 126.8 receiving yards per game put him on track for 2,155 receiving yards, which would break Calvin Johnson’s single-season record of 1,964 receiving yards.
While the Chiefs wide receiving corps is not considered to be one of the best in the league and the Dolphins have yet to win a playoff game with Hill, Kansas City is the reigning Super Bowl champion while Hill has emerged as the best receiver in the NFL. Maybe this trade really was a win-win.
