KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For the first time since trading away Tyreek Hill in March 2022, “The Cheetah” will be on the prowl against the Kansas City Chiefs, who play the Miami Dolphins on Sunday in Frankfurt, Germany.
The Chiefs traded Hill for five draft picks after contract-extension talks broke down.
It worked out well for Kansas City, which won its second Super Bowl in four seasons last year, but Hill also has thrived.
He leads the NFL in receiving yards (1,014), receiving touchdowns (eight), yards after catch (382) and receiving first downs (45) this season.
“I think that was a trade that worked out well for both parties,” Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said Tuesday during a video conference with reporters. “Obviously, Tyreek’s an incredible player and has done very well in his time with the Dolphins, but I also think it benefitted the Chiefs.”
Hunt claimed that the Chiefs used the draft picks from the Hill deal to bolster their defense and become a more balanced team overall, but that’s not completely accurate.
Kansas City packaged two of the 2022 picks — in the first (No. 29) and fourth rounds (No. 121) — in a trade with New England to move up eight spots and pick cornerback Trent McDuffie at No. 21 overall.
McDuffie has emerged as one of the top corners in the NFL in his second season, but he’s also the only defensive piece acquired with the picks from the Hill trade that remain on the roster.
With the 2022 second-round pick, the Chiefs made another deal with the Patriots, giving up the second-round pick from the Hill deal (No. 50) to move back four spots while also adding a fifth-round pick.
With pick No. 54, Kansas City selected wide receiver Skyy Moore, while the fifth-round pick was packaged with a seventh-rounder in a deal with Seattle to move up to No. 145 and nab offensive lineman Darian Kinnard.
During the 2023 NFL Draft, the Chiefs packaged the fourth-round pick from the Hill deal (No. 122) along with second- and seventh-round picks in a trade with Detroit, which netted picks Nos. 55 and 194.
Those selections were used on wide receiver Rashee Rice and defensive tackle Keondre Coburn.
Kansas City flipped the 2023 sixth-round pick (No. 178) to Dallas for the Cowboys’ fifth-round pick in 2024.
The total haul for Hill? McDuffie, Moore, Kinnard, Rice, Coburn and a fifth-rounder next season.
That’s one elite defender, two stabs at replacing Hill’s position, two non-impact players and another dart throw in the next draft.
For better or worse, the Chiefs are all in with Rice — who ranks second for Kansas City in receptions (30), receiving yards (361) and receiving touchdowns (three) as a rookie — and Moore, who has 14 catches for 168 yards with a touchdown this season.
“One of the things we talk about every year at these midseason updates is the importance of the team improving over the course of the season,” Hunt said. “In recent years, most of that improvement has been on the defensive side, where we’ve seen the defense around the middle of the season improve significantly through the playoffs. This year, I think that story is much more on the receiver room.”
The Chiefs didn’t make any moves at the trade deadline to bolster the wide-receiver room.
“We have a young group of receivers. I think we’ve watched them grow each week. I know we obviously had a disappointing performance in Denver this past weekend, but it looked like to me those receivers are coming along and I know Andy and his coaching staff are very focused on that,” Hunt said. “I would expect them to play better as we head toward the playoffs.”
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