Agent reveals Tyreek Hill played through a wrist injury that should have shut his season down

Tyreek Hill played the entire 2024 season with a troublesome right wrist injury that might never heal properly, which appears to be at the root of his frustration with how the 8-9 season played out for the Miami Dolphins.

That information came from his agent Drew Rosenhaus, who told ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show about the wrist injury, which Hill initially suffered in joint practices back in August, to explain the frustration level Hill exhibited after Miami’s embarrassing 32-20 loss to the New York Jets in the season finale.

In that season finale Hill pulled himself out of the contest late in the third quarter, and after the game told the Miami Herald he wants “out” of the organization because he doesn’t want to be part of a franchise that doesn’t advance to the postseason.

Hill has since privately walked back those comments, at least to Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier. But whether he’s playing nice — for now — or whether the organization is posturing to boost his trade value, is unknown.

But what is known is that Rosenhaus blames the right wrist injury for Hill’s disappointing 2024 season, where the 30-year-old fell short of producing 1,000 receiving yards for the third time in his nine-year career, which features eight Pro Bowl selections.

“We [had] top wrist doctors saying to Tyreek, ‘You need to get this operated on, you’re going to miss this season.’ Tyreek says to me and the Dolphins, ‘I’m not going to miss this season. I want to play. I’m going to be here for my team.’ The doctors all said ‘It’s going to be painful and could impact your entire career. If you don’t get it done now you may not be able to fix it all the way.’ Tyreek said ‘Hey, the heck with it. I’m a team guy.’ ” Rosenhaus said, recalling those August conversations.

Hill sat out a week, if not two, of practices. He wore a brace for the first couple of days. From time to time he was listed on the injury report with a wrist issue, and he occasionally brought it up, admitting that offseason surgery might be something he explored when the season ended.

However, Hill only missed one game in 2024.

“This hampered him all year long and he deserves a lot of credit,” Rosehaus told ESPN. “Tyreek is very passionate. Anyone I ever represented that was great was passionate. They cared. What you see with Tyreek is very genuine. He wants to win. It’s not good enough for him not to make the playoffs.”

What does that means for Hill and the Dolphins moving forward?

McDaniel seems to feel the issue is in the past.

“The competitive spirit of [Tyreek] can represent in postgame in a season, or game that nobody likes.... I was very direct with him. He was very honest. We left it on great terms,” McDaniel said Tuesday in his end-of-season news conference. “We discussed multiple things, including, without wavering that it’s not acceptable to leave the game and won’t be tolerated in the future and he embraced accountability. I wouldn’t say there is anything to fix as much as we had to clear the air.”

Since his 2022 arrival in Miami, Hill has rewritten the Dolphins record books, racking up back-to-back 1,700-yard receiving seasons as he transformed the Dolphins to one of the most productive offenses in the league. He even earned the honor of being voted by his peers as the No. 1 player in the league in the NFL Network’s Players Top 100 poll.

The five-time All-Pro receiver’s contract runs through 2026 after it was reworked days before the 2024 season’s start.

Hill will have a $27.7 million cap hit in 2025, and all of it is guaranteed. That figure could change depending on when he’s traded. If the trade happens before June 1, the dead money cap hit would slightly rise to $28.3 million but drop to $12.7 million if occurs afterwards.

Hill’s extension has him signed through the 2026 season, but he has no guaranteed money due that season. However, a $5 million roster bonus is due on March 18, and his salary is slotted to be $36.3 million that season.

“I think at the end of the day he’s committed to the Miami Dolphins football team…. I believe that Tyreek is a great asset to the Dolphins and I think he’s the least guy people should be worried about for this organization,” said Rosenhaus, who annually does a ton of business with the Dolphins. “There are many more worries. Tyreek is not one of them.”