KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The flirtation between receiver Tyreek Hill and the Kansas City Chiefs did not take long.
Hill, who began his NFL career with the Chiefs, became an unrestricted free agent for the first time in 10 years last Monday when the Miami Dolphins released him as part of a series of moves to create salary cap space. The decision from the Dolphins let them to save $22.8 million. By early that evening, Chiefs pass rusher Chris Jones, had used his X account to send Hill, his teammate with the Chiefs for six seasons, a message that anyone on the social media website could see. He tagged Hill’s account and used the alarm clock emoji to indicate that it was indeed time for the receiver to rejoin the Chiefs.
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Jones wasn’t the only person who expressed that a reunion for Hill and the Chiefs for the 2026 season would be beneficial to both parties. Several analysts suggested that Hill, who is recovering from surgery to repair his dislocated left knee and torn ACL that he sustained last season in Week 4, has the best chance to reestablish himself as a player in the league with the Chiefs.
“Not only do they need him, he needs them,” Louis Riddick, the analyst and former NFL safety, said Wednesday on ESPN’s “First Take.”
In March, Hill, whose elite speed and playmaking established him as one of the league’s best offensive threats, will turn 32. Within hours of being informed by the Dolphins of his release, Hill wrote a post on Instagram to guarantee that he will continue his career with the same level of production that made him a star.
“The Cheetah don’t slow down. Ever,” Hill wrote. “So to everyone wondering what’s next… just wait on it. The Cheetah will be back…Born Again.”
Two days later, Hill used his Snapchat account to show that he was back in Kansas City to visit family members and to continue his rehab. Of course, Hill’s profile photo showed him in a Chiefs uniform.
While it’s uncertain if Hill will be available for the season opener, the Chiefs are expected to monitor the progress of his recovery and training, according to league sources.
“We go through everything and everybody [in free agency],” Reid said Friday. “That’s how [general manager] Brett [Veach] does [it]. I’m sure [Hill’s] working hard on that [rehab] part of it and trying to get all that straightened out. We talk about everything, so there’s nothing happening there, but we know he’s out there and cranking away trying to get himself back to where he can play.”
The Chiefs, as they’ve done in the past, could offer Hill a one-year contract with incentives to add a boost to their offense — a unit that will feature quarterback Patrick Mahomes after he recovers from the most significant injury of his career, the torn ACL and LCL in his left knee. In 2022, after the Chiefs traded Hill to the Dolphins for five draft picks, the team signed veteran receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster to a one-year deal for a maximum of $10.75 million. The Chiefs and Hill could negotiate a similar contract, which would allow Hill to be a free agent again next year with the hope of him being healthier and his knee further strengthened.
If both parties can agree to a deal, whether later in the offseason or early in the season, Hill would be reunited with Mahomes, coach Andy Reid and potentially tight end Travis Kelce, who is strongly considering re-signing with the team for the 14th season in his career, according to multiple members of the Chiefs’ organization..
Adding more talent at the receiver position should be one of the top priorities this offseason for Reid and Veach. Entering this week, the Chiefs have just five receivers on their roster — Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Jalen Royals, Jason Brownlee and Jimmy Holiday.
Even if Hill can just replicate his production from the first month of last year prior to his injury, his play will be an upgrade from what the Chiefs had at the position for much of their 2025 campaign. Entering Week 4 last year, Hill had accounted for more than half of the Dolphins’ air yards (53.5%), and his three deep receptions — 20 air yards or more — almost matched his total from the previous season (four), according to Next Gen Stats.
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“With his work ethic, I’m not counting him out coming back and being just as dominant as he was before,” former Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu said Wednesday of Hill on his “In The Bayou” podcast. “The next best thing for him to do is to find a quarterback and an offensive coordinator that likes him, that appreciates his talents, his gifts.
“I’m sure a lot of people are going to talk about K.C. Essentially, me and him left the Chiefs at the same time [in 2022]. … I know a lot of people are going to throw his name in the hat as far as linking back up with Mahomes, which I don’t count that out.”
Since Hill was traded to the Dolphins, the Chiefs’ offense hasn’t been as explosive as it was in the past. In fact, Kansas City has not had a 1,000-yard receiver since 2021 — and that player was Hill.
“Given the guys that they have on the roster now, he might be the person to sort of lift those guys’ play,” Mathieu said of Hill. “One of things that impressed me most with Tyreek was he was just like me. He [doesn’t] miss practice, he’s going to take all his reps, he [doesn’t] miss no games.
“Given what the Chiefs have experienced the last three years at the receiver position, he may be the next-best teacher for them.”
