Tua Tagovailoa delivered a telling verdict on wantaway teammate Tyreek Hill Wednesday after the star took a sledgehammer to his relationships with the Miami Dolphins at the end of last season.
The wide receiver’s relationship with the Dolphins was left in contentious shape throughout the offseason after he repeatedly hinted at a move out of Miami with thinly-veiled jibes at the team and his teammates.
Yet, while the 31-year-old, who is also in the midst of a bitter divorce from wife Keeta Vaccaro, has remained in South Florida as the Dolphins returned to training camp this week, it doesn’t necessarily mean all is forgiven.
‘When you say something like that you don’t just come back with “My bad.” You gotta work that relationship up. He is working on himself,’ Tagovailoa told reporters when asked about Hill’s fiery comments.
The wideout appeared to take himself out the team’s final game of the 2024 season against the New York Jets, with head coach Mike McDaniel then denying Hill’s claim that he was hurt and couldn’t play.
Then, speaking with reporters after the game, Hill was visibly unhappy at missing the postseason.
Tua Tagovailoa (L) broke his silence on wantaway teammate Tyreek Hill’s Week 18 comments
‘This is my first time I haven’t been in the playoffs, man,’ Hill said. ‘So I just got to do what’s best for me and my family.
‘I’m opening the door. I’m out bro. It was great playing here, but at the end of the day I gotta do what’s best for my career because I’m too much of a competitor to be just out there.’
In addition to his cryptic Week 18 message, Hill courted further controversy when he appeared to take a swipe at Tagovailoa himself.
The receiver was asked by a fan on social media to rank the best quarterbacks in the league and he passed over his own signal caller, who missed parts of the 2024 season after suffering another concussion.
Hill’s picks were Ravens star Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen of the Bills, Chiefs icon Patrick Mahomes , Buccaneers star Baker Mayfield and Bengals signal caller Joe Burrow.
Hill insisted his selections were in no particular order but his omission of Tagovailoa nevertheless saw the clip go viral.
His repeated digs fueled speculation that the receiver could force his way out of the 305 but general manager Chris Grier insisted in April that the Dolphins have no intention of trading Hill.
‘That is not anything that we’re pursuing,’ Grier said. ‘If someone wants to come and give me two first-round picks then we’d consider it. But, as of right now, it’s not something we’re considering.’
Hill is in the midst of a contentious divorce from estranged wife Keeta Vaccaro (left)
The wideout is pictured at the Miami Dolphins’ training camp on July 23
While Hill’s relationships in the NFL are a work in progress, the one with his estranged wife is seemingly beyond repair.
Fitness entrepreneur Vaccaro filed for divorce on April 7 a day after cops responded to reports of an ‘assault in progress’ at the couple’s luxury Miami condo.
Hill hurled a laptop onto the floor and was ‘aggressive and impulsive’ according to Vaccaro’s mother Alesia – but police determined that ‘no crime was committed’.
An astonishing 78 court documents have been submitted since then as the estranged couple bicker over spousal support and access to their seven-month-old daughter Capri.
Vaccaro’s lawyers took aim at Hill in an April 17 filing that claimed he had ‘no sincere desire to spend time with the baby, to assume parental responsibilities … or to be personally involved with the baby’.
The gridiron phenom’s real objective, claimed attorneys Evan Marks and Carolyn West, was ‘coercion and control’.
