With One Stat, Miami Dolphins Justify Paying $60 Million to Tyreek Hill & Jaylen Waddle

If there’s one standout receiver room in the NFL, it’s arguably the Dolphins’. Their annual payout for their receivers certainly proves that. While Tyreek Hill is taking home $30 million a year, Jaylen Waddle recently agreed to an annual $28.5 million contract. However, many feel that the $60 million spent on the two receivers is more than justified, especially if we look at one key statistic.

Warren Sharp of the Ringer recently took to X (formerly Twitter) with a statistic of WR completions over 10 yards downfield for the 2023 season. The Dolphins’ receivers, Hill and Waddle, lead the league by a mile with 104 completions. In contrast, the second-best team on the list is the Minnesota Vikings, who trail with just 84 completions, marking a whopping 20-completion gap.

Notably, the Vikings have Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison to thank for this achievement. It’s even more impressive, considering Jefferson missed half the season, and the team lost their QB to injury.

Both Jefferson and Lamb are in line for a big payday. Given that the Dolphins splurged big money to keep their receiver room intact, the price for both Justin and CeeDee will potentially drive upwards of $30 million.

However, with the urgency to lock down Waddle for another 3 years, it seems Miami forgot about an impending extension, which will cost them even more.

Are the Dolphins Forgetting Something?

It feels like yesterday that the Dolphins gave star receiver Tyreek Hill a mammoth 4-year, $120 million contract. The deal signed in 2022 made him the highest-paid wideout in the league.

However, that seems like ages, as Hill has been surpassed by both AJ Brown and Amon-Ra St. Brown. Both of them will earn $32 million and $30.003 million a year, respectively.

Even though there are 2 years left on his contract, Hill has already asked for a new contract, as reported by MSN. This is not much surprising, considering he was the best wideout in the league last season. Moreover, in his first two seasons in Miami, Cheetah has accumulated 3509 yards and 20 touchdowns.

However, the Dolphins just finalized a massive contract with Waddle. So, it’s safe to say they won’t be agreeing to a lucrative contract just now. Hill is already 30, and by the time his current contract ends, he will be 32.

The Fins also have to prioritize Tua Tagovailoa’s contract now. Jared Goff got paid $53 million, and there is a belief that Tua’s new contract will be somewhere near this figure. They are planning to go all out next season, and anything short of a Super Bowl appearance is a failure for a squad of this pedigree.