INDIANAPOLIS — It’s impossible not to connect the Chargers with wide receiver Tyreek Hill.
First, the club has a serious need for the type of speed Hill brings to the football field. When healthy, he’s one of only a handful of players capable of single-handedly changing a game.
Secondly, they just hired his former head coach, Mike McDaniel, as their new offensive coordinator. Hill and McDaniel did some spectacular things together in Miami, including back-to-back seasons of 119 receptions and more than 1,700 receiving yards. Both were career highs.
It goes without saying that no one other than maybe Andy Reid knows Hill better than McDaniel, and vice versa.
The most important part of all? Hill is available.
As in right this very minute.
Remember, the Dolphins released Hill in a salary dump two weeks ago, meaning he doesn’t have to wait until the new league year to sign with a new team.
Yes, he’s coming off a serious knee injury he suffered against the Jets in late September last year, putting his start to next season in question. But it makes sense for the Chargers to get him in their building as soon as possible, perhaps on a one-year prove-it deal that allows him to re-enter the market next season, to monitor his ongoing rehab and get him ready to pounce as soon as he is cleared to play.
Can you imagine a healthy Hill pairing up with Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, alongside wide receiver Ladd McConkey and young tight end Oronde Gadsden?
In an offense coordinated by McDaniel, one of the most innovative minds in all of football?
It makes all the sense in the world.
Maybe that explains the slight smile on the face of Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz when he was asked at the NFL scouting combine Tuesday about the possibility of adding Hill to the roster.
As expected, Hortiz sidestepped the question by saying, “I’m not going to tip my hand on any players right now.”
Hortiz wasn’t about to broadcast his team’s thinking this early in the offseason, let alone share the game plan to improve the infrastructure around Herbert. In other words, he was always going to keep things close to his vest, including the possibility of adding some major punch to the Chargers’ attack by reeling in Hill.
He responded the same way when asked about Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum, a pending free agent who plays a position of major need for the Chargers. Remember, Hortiz was a key member of the Ravens front office when they drafted Linderbaum in 2022.
“I’m not going to talk about any players under contract with other teams,” Hortiz said when asked about Linderbaum. “I’m not going to do it.”
You didn’t expect him to lay out the whole plan, did you?
Hill makes a ton of sense for the Chargers, as does Linderbaum. Expect the Chargers to be involved with both players, with conversations undoubtedly taking place this week in Indianapolis as teams, agents, and players begin getting a lay of the land ahead of free agency, which opens on March 11.
Or, in Hill’s case, maybe even before.