Dolphins' Tyreek Hill says Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs will 'still be great' without him

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – New Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill struck while the iron was hot, debuting his podcast and YouTube show soon after leaving the Kansas City Chiefs and becoming the highest paid receiver in the NFL this offseason.

But some of his comments – mainly the one in which he said his new quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is more accurate than his old quarterback Patrick Mahomes – struck a nerve with many.

It even led to Hill receiving death threats, he said on an episode of his show, "It Needed To Be Said."

Now, equipped with a $30 million-a-year contract that can pay him $72.2 million guaranteed with the upstart Dolphins, Hill does not intend to prove he will be better off without Mahomes – the quarterback with whom he won the 2020 Super Bowl – or vice versa.

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“I just feel like all I can do is just be me. Be me and just help this team win games,” Hill said after Dolphins training camp Thursday when asked if he has any added motivation to prove he can still be productive in Miami.

“One-Five (Mahomes) – he’s still going to be great. TK (Travis Kelce) is still going to be great. That whole team is still going to be great,” Hill added.

“All I can do is just control what I can control: That’s my energy. That’s my effort. And that’s my intensity every time I step on this field.”

Hill’s departure from the Chiefs – a team that reached four consecutive AFC title games – to the rebuilding Dolphins – a team with just three playoff appearances since 2001 – was one of the biggest trades of the NFL offseason.

Hill left one of the NFL’s most formidable dynasties with Mahomes, tight end Kelce and coach Andy Reid for a payday that he could not receive in Kansas City.

Hill’s accuracy comments also caught Mahomes off-guard when the podcast episode was released.

“I’m surprised a little just because I feel like we love Tyreek here, we’ve always loved him,” Mahomes said last month. “… I’m sure it kind of had to do with trying to get his podcast some stuff and get it rolling, but definitely, I still love Tyreek.”

This season will be the first Mahomes and the Chiefs navigate without Hill, with newcomers Juju Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and speedster Mecole Hardman trying to fill the void.

Hill will have big expectations to fill in Miami, not only with his contract, but as Tagovailoa’s top target in the Dolphins’ passing game this season.

Hill joins second-year standout receiver Jaylen Waddle and first-year head coach Mike McDaniel as the Dolphins hope to reach the postseason for the first time since 2016.

And Hill doesn’t have any plans to curtail his message on his podcast in the future.

To him, even bad publicity is good for the podcasting business.

“I just feel like people, man, they just take [expletive] and they just run with it, dawg. You know how people are. They really don’t read the headlines,” Hill said.

“Obviously. I said what I said, Tua was more accurate. But ‘One-Five’ (Mahomes), he’s always going to be ‘One-Five.’ Speaking of Mahomes, like he’s great. Like he’s arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks I feel like I played with or in this league right now.

“So national attention? I’ll take it, so that’s good range for me and my podcast. We’ll take it all day.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tyreek Hill addresses comparison of Patrick Mahomes, Tua Tagovailoa