Dolphins releasing star receiver
Tyreek Hill in major roster cuts
[February 17, 2026]
By ALANIS THAMES
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Dolphins released star receiver
Tyreek Hill on Monday, ending the All-Pro's four-year tenure in
Miami.
Hill, who turns 32 on March 1, is recovering from a season-ending
injury suffered in a game against the New York Jets on Sept. 29 that
required surgery to repair significant damage to his left knee,
including a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
It is one of several major roster cuts the Dolphins made on Monday.
Miami also cut offensive lineman James Daniels and receiver Nick
Westbrook-Ikhine, and will release two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher
Bradley Chubb.
The Dolphins acquired Hill in a trade with Kansas City ahead of the
2022 season and gave him a $120 million, four-year contract
extension that made him the highest-paid player at his position at
the time.
His contract, which runs through 2026, would have represented around
$51 million against Miami's cap.
“These past few years have been some of the most meaningful of my
life and career,” Hill said in an Instagram post Monday afternoon.
Hill had consecutive 1,700-yard receiving seasons in his first two
years with Miami, including a league-leading 1,799 yards and 13
touchdowns in 2023. The five-time All-Pro entered the 2025 season
aiming to regain that elite form after a relatively down year in
2024, when he had 81 catches for 959 yards — his lowest totals in
both categories since 2019.
He had 21 receptions for 265 yards before he was hurt while making a
catch in Miami’s Week 4 win against the Jets. Hill was running
toward the sideline and planted his left foot, and his knee twisted
as he was getting pulled down. He was carted off the field and
placed on season-ending injured reserve on Oct. 1.
Hill’s Dolphins tenure was characterized by tremendous production on
the field coupled with numerous rocky moments off the field,
including an altercation with police outside of Hard Rock Stadium
ahead of the 2024 season opener, and pulling himself from that
season’s finale and later indicating he wanted to play elsewhere.
In an October podcast interview, Hill, who has played 10 NFL
seasons, said he was undecided on whether he plans to retire when
he's done rehabbing his injury, but on Monday he indicated on social
media that he's not done playing yet.
“The Cheetah don't slow down. Ever,” Hill said in the post. “So to
everyone wondering what's next...just wait on it. The Cheetah will
be back...Born Again.”
Bradley Chubb is another star Dolphins player on the move
Chubb spent the past three seasons with the Dolphins after being
traded to Miami from Denver in 2022.
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Miami Dolphins' Tyreek Hill looks toward the field son the sideline
before an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sept. 29,
2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, file)
He suffered a gruesome knee injury late in the 2023
season that required surgery to fix a torn anterior cruciate
ligament, meniscus and patellar tendon in his right knee and
sidelined him all of 2024. Chubb had 11 sacks — the most he had in a
season since getting 12 as a rookie in 2018 — in 2023 before the
injury.
Last season, Chubb’s 8 1/2 sacks led the team. He represented a $31
million cap hit for 2026.
New general manager Jon Eric Sullivan, who was hired by the Dolphins
last month along with head coach Jeff Hafley, was expected to begin
making moves to overhaul Miami's roster.
“We will move with responsible aggression here,” Sullivan said when
the Dolphins introduced him on Jan 22. “We will utilize every avenue
of player acquisition to bolster this roster.”
Dolphins still appear undecided on QB Tua Tagovailoa
Sullivan still faces the question on whether to move on from 2020
first-round pick Tua Tagovailoa, who was benched by former Dolphins
coach Mike McDaniel toward the end of last season because of poor
play.
Tagovailoa signed a four-year, $212.4 million extension in July
2024, but has since shown a decline in accuracy and mobility.
Tagovailoa finished 2025 with 15 interceptions, second most in the
NFL and a career high.
He is guaranteed $54 million for 2026, and the Dolphins would incur
significant hits to the salary cap by releasing him. Cutting him
would result in a $99 million dead cap charge. If the move is
designated as a post-June 1 release, those charges are split over
two years, with $67.4 million allocated to the 2026 cap and $31.8
million in 2027.
Sullivan said last week at a fan event that he doesn't know “what
the future holds right now.”
“And I told Tua that,” Sullivan said. “We're working through some
things. What I can tell you is that we're going to infuse
competition into that room — whether Tua is part of the room,
whether he's not part of the room.”
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