Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes shares thoughts on Tyreek Hill being traded from Kansas City
Chiefs fans were shocked when All-Pro wide receiver Tyreek Hill was traded last week to the Miami Dolphins for five draft picks.
The news seemed to come out of left field, but negotiations had been going on for days after talks of an extension fell through, as Hill’s agent revealed after the deal was finalized.
Unlike fans, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was not blindsided by the move. As he told Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, Mahomes was in the loop thanks to Chiefs general manager Brett Veach.
“It more surprised me whenever it got to the point where we were really considering trading him,” Mahomes said. “They kept me updated the entire time; I knew the extension talks were going on. And then I knew when he got the permission to seek to get traded. But I mean, still, I played my entire career with Tyreek, so definitely, there was a little bit of shock when he got traded.
“At the same time, they kept me involved the entire process, and I know that we made a tremendous effort to try to keep him in Kansas City. Tyreek, he’s such a tremendous player, he got what he deserved. I’m happy for him. And he’s at a place where he has a home and he’s closer to family and stuff. So I’m very happy for him. We had to move forward.”
Mahomes added that he trusts coach Andy Reid and Veach and understood that the Chiefs had to try to get maximum value in the Hill trade.
Beefing up the receiving corps with the increased salary cap room and draft picks after the deal was also important to Mahomes.
What’s next
That Mahomes was apprised of updates is nothing new, he said.
“I’ve been involved pretty much my entire career (as a starter),” said Mahomes. “I mean, I remember when we signed Sammy Watkins. I’m not saying who we need to sign and who we don’t need to sign and all this different type of stuff. But they let me know what they’re thinking and why they’re thinking it, and I think that’s why the relationship that we have in Kansas City is so great with Coach Reid and Veach and everybody, it’s they keep everybody informed of where we’re going and what the vision is of the future.
“And that’s the reason I signed the contract that I did, and that’s the reason that I know I’m gonna be in Kansas City for my entire career, because I have great people around me. I kind of kept myself out of making decisions or anything like that. I don’t even know if they’d let me make decisions like that. I’ll give my input on what I think about the guys they ask me about, but other than that they just kind of keep me involved in what we’re trying to do.”
Mahomes said he was curious as to how opposing defenses will attack the Chiefs now that Hill is not on the team.
In 2021, Mahomes and the Chiefs faced a new kind of defensive effort to stop the high-flying offense. Will that be the same this fall?
“I’m very interested, honestly, because obviously we got a lot more two-high shell zone coverages this last year and for a while it had a lot of success against us,” Mahomes said. “So do defenses go back to the coverages they were playing against us before, because we don’t have Tyreek, who’s such a dynamic playmaker? Or do they try to evolve in the defense they were playing last year, because they were having some success early in the season?
“I’m interested to see. I’ll try to prepare for it all. But that’s what’s great about the NFL; it’s just always changing, it’s always evolving and you have to continue to get better and better or you get lost behind everyone else.”
This story was originally published April 1, 2022 at 10:16 AM.
