Tyreek Hill did a damage control media blitz last week, personally apologizing to Tua Tagovailoa and telling reporters that he regretted his talk of leaving the Miami Dolphins. Those comments dovetailed nicely with an NFL Network report that the Dolphins had no plans of trading Hill.

While all that pointed to a smooth path forward for Hill and the Dolphins after a rocky end to the 2024 season, the receiver reportedly entertained the idea of a trade behind the scenes.

On his podcast, The Ringer’s Bill Simmons said he ran into Hill in New Orleans during Super Bowl week and tried to talk the receiver into making his way to the New England Patriots. While he said Hill shot down the idea, Simmons’ co-host Sal Iacono said the eight-time Pro Bowler was much more receptive to the idea of playing for the Dallas Cowboys.

Then the kicker.

“Somebody that was with him was like, ‘watch out for the Chargers’ and walked off,” Simmons said.

If the Dolphins have any plans of entertaining Hill trade offers, there’s not much reason for the team to be in a hurry to get something done.

Trading the receiver before the beginning of June would leave Miami with a $28,297,500 dead money salary cap hit — a hair more expensive than the $27,698,750 he’s due to count if he stays on the team. But if the Dolphins wait until the summer to deal Hill, they’d drop that number to $12,728,750 and save nearly $15 million. For a team without much cap space, that’s no small sum.

The Chargers have stood out as a logical landing spot for Hill, and the Cowboys make plenty of sense too. The question is simply whether the Dolphins feel they’re better off with or without Hill on the team. The receiver, it seems, has no qualms with continuing to think about a potential future outside of South Beach.