Tyreek Hill a Diehard Minnesota Vikings Fan?

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Tyreek Hill - Minnesota Vikings at Miami Dolphins
Credit: Rich Storry-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Vikings’ top priority this offseason is at quarterback. It’s far from their only question mark on offense, however.

There are health concerns across the offensive line, they need to find Aaron Jones’ replacement and TJ Hockenson costs way too much next season. But WR might be the sneakiest position of concern on the Vikings’ entire roster, outside of quarterback.

Outside of making sure Justin Jefferson gets the ball way more often in 2026, nothing at wide receiver is a certainty this offseason in Minnesota, where Jalen Nailor is expected to leave via free agency and Jordan Addison can’t stay out of trouble.

Tyreek Hill being released by Miami Dolphins

And that brings us to the biggest NFL news of this President’s Day Monday, so far. This morning, the Miami Dolphins’ are officially planning the release of superstar wide receiver Tyreek Hill, according Adam Schefter (ESPN) and all the other major national NFL insiders.

Over the course of his 10-year NFL career, Tyreek Hill has played for just two NFL teams. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs, where he helped Patrick Mahomes become the league’s best quarterback, before signing with Miami in 2022 as a free agent, where he has remained since.

We will get to what makes Hill a great wide receiver momentarily, but that conversation begins with the 31-year-old’s previous ability to stay healthy. Prior to suffering a major week 4 leg injury that cost him the final 14 games of the Dolphins’ season, “Cheetah” had appeared in 15 or more games in all but one of his nine NFL seasons.

Kansas City selected Tyreek Hill in the 5th round of the 2016 NFL Draft, but he blew onto the scene quickly, racking up nearly 600 yards and 6 touchdowns as a rookie, before pushing over 1100 yards (7 TD) in year two. A decade later, he’s compiled 11,363 receiving yards and 83 touchdowns on 819 receptions.

As recently as 2023, Tyreek Hill was the NFL’s top wide receiver, on paper, posting the league’s highest receiving yardage (1,799) and touchdown (13) totals on the season. Now, the superstar talent is up for grabs to the highest free agent bidder… and there is no arguing the Minnesota Vikings’ need at wide receiver.

Could Minnesota Vikings be No. 1 on Tyreek’s list of free agent destinations?

While it’s still very much a longshot — given how much the Wilfs are already paying Justin Jefferson and their focus this offseason revolving around throwing the football, not catching it — there is one intriguing factor connecting our favorite football team to the most talented offensive player now on the open market.

The MN Vikings aren’t just your favorite National Football League team… Tyreek Hill is a self-described “die-hard” Vikings fan, as well — something he has talked openly about multiple times somewhat recently — even diving into some of his all-time favorites like Moss, Culpepper, Winfield etc.

“I grew up a Minnesota Vikings fan my whole life. Randy Moss, Daunte Culpepper, Antoine Winfield, the fullback Kleinsasser — all those guys.”

“If I had it my way, though. If I had to choose any team I wanted to play for — growing up as a kid, I was a Minnesota Vikings fan. I love the Vikes, man.”

Obviously, the biggest questions surrounding Tyreek Hill are his health and cost. The Dolphins let him go because nobody is sure if he will play at all in 2026, due to the severity of his knee/leg injury.

However, it’s possible the uncertainty over Hill’s health could play into the Vikings’ favor, when it comes to the second question mark. Whoever lands Hill will do so at some sort of discount, and the Vikings would need one.

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So while Hill’s favorite team is trying to win now, and he can’t help them do that rehabbing his leg, Minnesota’s larger focus remains on what comes beyond 2026, since keeping Justin Jefferson and the Wilf Family happy are both yearly commitments.

That means, if Tyreek Hill really wants to play for his favorite team and happens to be intrigued by Kevin O’Connell’s passing concepts… then the Vikings signing him on a short-term incentive-laden deal would be far from the strangest thing that happen in the NFL over these next three months.

Do not doubt a superhero Tyreek Hill comeback tour

For most of his professional career, Tyreek Hill — who still holds the fastest in-game speed ever recorded during an NFL game at 23.24 MPH (2016) — has been widely considered the fastest player in the NFL for the past decade, that’s not what makes him an elite wide receiver.

Because as the MN Vikings found out first hand back in the 2005 — when they used the first round draft pick they received from Oakland in exchange for Randy Moss to select South Carolina’s Troy “No Hands” Williamson No. 7 overall — elite speed doesn’t mean anything if you can’t get open or catch the ball.

That’s what sets Hill apart, not just from other extremely fast wide receivers, but from pretty much every wide receiver to come through the league. Yes, he is fast and he does have have cartoonish quickness and athleticism.

He also has an incredible knack for finding weak spots in a defense or coming down with the ball, when covered. It’s that total package that makes Tyreek Hill such a great football player.

When right, whether he is running routes or running after the catch, Tyreek Hill’s dynamic ability to go through, around or over the top of any defensive scheme makes him an impossible weapon for opposing defenses to contain.

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