NFL
By: Rick O’Donnell
There’s a new regime in Miami. A full regime change is in place for the first time since 2016. It may be the most significant one. Back then, the Miami Dolphins handed the reins to Chris Grier, who would become their next GM. He would immediately turn around and hire Adam Gase as his first head coach. From there on out, he’d find his “diamond in the rough” coaches who were big names during the hiring cycle, but none of them really panned out. This regime seems to have a different approach.
When the Dolphins fired Grier, they also conducted a sweep of their scouting department and brought in advisors such as Troy Aikman to help them find their next GM. Those people would eventually land on John Eric Sullivan of the Green Bay Packers. There were plenty of opportunities to hire the big names. However, Sullivan and his crew pivoted instead, choosing familiarity with Jeff Hafley, the Defensive Coordinator out of Green Bay.
So what does that have to do with their current roster?
These guys have been in the middle of a media blitz since they arrived in Miami. The most commonly asked questions were, of course, about QB Tua Tagovailoa, rightfully so. However, as of this week, more and more people are asking about other pieces, such as the recently released Tyreek Hill and current players like Jaylen Waddle and De’Von Achane. Those two are arguably their best building blocks for the future, at least on offense.
Yet, there’s a problem here. As much as Sullivan and Hafley may want them to stick with the team, they’re in no position to make that happen. Sorry, the truth hurts, and this won’t be a quick turnaround for the Dolphins. They have next to no cap space for 2026. So, they’ll have to build through the draft. They would have to hit with every pick in the draft. Then, they’ll need to compete with an all-new QB or seventh-rounder Quinn Ewers. The likelihood they get every pick right is slim. Free agency might get them some help. However, you’re not finding immediate impact players on the open market with so little cap space.
More than likely, 2026 will be a wash for the Dolphins. Great players can’t afford to waste their careers gambling with a struggling franchise. If Miami goes into 2027 with another strong free agency period, clearing a ton of cap, and then nails another draft, they could be respectable and hover around or slightly over .500. Franchises aren’t turned around in a season. Point the finger at the New England Patriots all you want, but they had back-to-back 4-win seasons and an 8-win season before that, before they sniffed another playoff game. That’s at least a 3-year turnaround of cleaning up in-house.
Can Sullivan and Hafley turn the Miami Dolphins around? Maybe. Unfortunately, the reality is that it won’t happen in year 1, and maybe not in year 2. There’s a large list of young players on the roster, but their “building blocks” aren’t young enough to build off of. If Miami can catch lightning in a bottle, great, but more than likely, you’re looking at a three-year window. Waddle will be turning 30, Achane 27, Sieler 33, and Brooks 31. All young players who can still have juice left in their 30s and can still be successful with Miami.
But if this new Miami Dolphins regime wants to be successful, they can’t do what the last one did and bank on the “what ifs”. What if they turn this thing around quickly? What if we hold onto our pieces and hit every on every draft pick? Can these young players now outlast a rebuild, and what if we hang on to them?
No fan wants to see their favorite player in another uniform. Unfortunately, the only way to turn this thing around quickly is to stockpile picks, and the Dolphins don’t have many trade-worthy players to choose from. They can trade back during the draft, but that only decreases the likelihood they’ll draft the right players for a quick turnaround. The Miami Dolphins are between a rock and a hard place, and the only way to get out of it might be to do the unthinkable and trade their most-valued players.
