All-Pro wide receiver speaks up for Jaylen Waddle

All-Pro wide receiver speaks up for Jaylen Waddle

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill is vacationing overseas, but he felt compelled to take to social media on Wednesday.

“I’m all the way in Greece right now,” Hill wrote, “and I get on Twitter to see people talking crazy about Dolphin football.”

What people were “talking crazy” about was the idea of trading Miami wide receiver Jaylen Waddle.

The idea was floated on Tuesday by Mike Tannenbaum, whose credentials as an ESPN NFL analyst include six seasons as the general manager of the New York Jets.

During an appearance on the ESPN program “Get Up” while discussing hypothetical NFL trades, Tannenbaum said the Dolphins should trade Waddle for Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie.

“I love this one,” Tannenbaum said. “Two great young players. Trent McDuffie straight up for Jaylen Waddle. Here’s why: If you’re Miami, you’re probably going to cut Xavien Howard as a cap casualty. So you get Trent McDuffie, who is a great young player. That’s for Miami. You still have a great receiver in Tyreek Hill.”

Hill thinks this is a bad idea.

“My boy Waddle is the future,” Hill wrote. “He is better than I was at this point in his career, and for people in this fan base to want to trade him is ludicrous.”

A Pro Bowl selection for all eight of his NFL seasons and a first-team All-Pro pick for the fifth time in 2023, the former West Alabama standout was involved in a trade between the Dolphins and Chiefs. In 2022, Miami got Hill from Kansas City in exchange for first-, second- and fourth-round picks in the 2022 NFL Draft and fourth- and sixth-round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft.

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In 2023, Hill had 119 receptions for 1,799 yards and 13 touchdowns. He led the NFL in receiving yards and tied for the league lead in touchdown receptions as he became the first player in NFL history to record at least 1,700 receiving yards in back-to-back seasons.

Waddle recorded his third straight 1,000-yard receiving season in 2023, when he had 72 receptions for 1,014 yards and four touchdowns despite missing three full games and parts of others because of injuries.

Hill and Waddle helped former Alabama All-American Tua Tagovailoa lead the NFL in passing yards as the Miami quarterback in 2023.

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“Him and Tua was special before me and will be special after I leave,” Hill wrote of Waddle on Wednesday.

After joining Miami from Alabama’s 2020 undefeated CFP national-championship team as the sixth selection in the 2021 draft, Waddle broke the NFL rookie record for receptions by recording 104. In his second season, Waddle led the NFL with an average of 18.1 yards per reception in 2022.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.