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Andy Reid: 'There's no rift between Tyreek Hill and myself'
Kansas City head coach Andy Reid discussed the difficulties of managing the salary cap. Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Chiefs HC Andy Reid: 'There's no rift between Tyreek Hill and myself'

Seemingly out of nowhere, the Kansas City Chiefs traded six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins for five draft assets last week after contract negotiations reportedly flamed out.  

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke with reporters Monday at the league's annual meetings and insisted he has no beef with his now his former player. 

"I love Tyreek Hill," Reid explained, according to Adam Teicher of ESPN. "There's no rift between Tyreek Hill and myself. I thought he deserved an opportunity if that's where he wanted to go. He's a family man that has a few kids and he's got to be able to support them now and down the road, and this gives him an opportunity to do that. At the same time, it gives us great compensation.

"We came in aggressive [with a contract offer], and after we got to a point, we just said, 'Listen, in this day and age you have issues you have to deal with with the cap.' So we felt like it was better to allow him to go ahead and be traded. ... You can go different routes with a player. You can play hardball or you can go about it the way I did, or we did."

Miami signed Hill to a four-year, $120 million extension that includes $72.2 million in guaranteed money. Teicher notes the Chiefs now have the fourth-most salary-cap space in the NFL at over $23 million.

"You've got to be able to manage that the right way," Reid added about the club's cap situation. "If you're paying all of your money to a quarterback and you can't surround him with players, that can be a problem. So you have to find a way with a Tyreek Hill maybe that you have to get rid of so you can replenish. That's offense and defense. I'm not just talking about the offensive side."

Kansas City added former first-round draft pick Corey Coleman, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and JuJu Smith-Schuster during free agency.

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