For the first time in his Miami Dolphins career, star wide receiver Tyreek Hill is not a team captain. The Dolphins announced a six-man group of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, fullback Alec Ingold, linebacker Jordyn Brooks, center Aaron Brewer, defensive tackle Zach Sieler and edge rusher Bradley Chubb as their captains for the 2025 season. Hill’s omission comes after a rough end to 2024 when the veteran wideout sparked questions about his future with the team.
Hill seemingly took himself out of the Dolphins’ 2024 finale in the third quarter and indicated after the game that he would seek opportunities to play elsewhere when he said, “I’m out.” Missing the playoffs for the first time in his career did not sit well with Hill, but after the uncertainty about his intentions for 2025, he remains on the Miami roster for a fourth year.
“He was an active participator in voting for probably multiple captains that we do have,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniels said of Hill after the captains announcement. “I think it’s more about the guys that we picked and less about the guys we didn’t, because there are a lot of guys exemplifying tremendous leadership qualities that aren’t a captain of this football team.”
Tagovailoa said at the beginning of training camp that Hill was working to rebuild his relationship with his Miami teammates but that it would take time and effort to regain trust after his damaging postgame comments.
“The disparity between those six vote-getters and everyone else, it was more focused,” McDaniel said. “Those guys were unilaterally voted for. They kind of stood out. There was a big gap. Naturally, I think there’s a lot of players that could do a great job being a captain, but for this team, the players vote for it. With those six standing out so much, that was an easy decision to cut it there.”
The Dolphins’ captains have work to do in leading the team back from a letdown year. Last season was the first under McDaniel that Miami missed the playoffs, and at 8-9, it was the first with a losing record. The passing game suffered with Tagovailoa missing six games, and Hill logged his least productive season since 2019 with a sub-1,000-yard campaign and just six touchdowns.
“I’m really excited about the whole voting process this year in general because each team is unique to its own, and this team, I think, was much more unified and the focus on those six guys were very clear,” McDaniel said. “They were resounding vote-getters. I think it speaks to the team, I think, knew the assignment a little bit more and were focused on giving the keys of captainship to those that had earned it each and every day. That’s what speaks to me the most, is a football team that knows who they want to be led by.”
