Chris Perkins: Dolphins' offseason is encouraging, what's at stake with Willis and other thoughts

Chris Perkins, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Mar 12, 2026

Published in Football

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There were plenty of reasons for Miami Dolphins fans to wish each other a “Happy New Year” on Wednesday, the first day of the new league year.

So far, it’s been a good offseason for the Dolphins.

There’s a long, long way to go in this rebuild, obviously.

And I don’t agree with every move that’s been made.

But the Dolphins are trending upward.

It was a strong start to the offseason when owner Steve Ross enlisted Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman to join the hiring committees that selected general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley.

Things have improved since that time.

Here are five Dolphins observations from this early point in the offseason/free agency.

— I’ll say it again: I like the hiring of Sullivan and Hafley. I like their vision for the organization, I like their approach, their mentality and their actions. They’ve been solid from stripping down the old team to building a new one. As you know, I wouldn’t have signed quarterback Malik Willis. But whatever. I wish him well and hope he succeeds. He seems to be a quality person as well as a promising talent.

Overall, I’m encouraged by the direction the Dolphins are headed.

— The Dolphins are betting that Green Bay was so loaded with talent that it could have provided the foundation to send two teams to the playoffs recently.

The Packers obviously had enough talent to reach the playoffs in 2024 and 2025 under the trio of general manager Brian Gutekunst, coach Matt LeFleur and quarterback Jordan Love.

The Dolphins are thinking that Green Bay had enough spinoff/second-string talent at general manager (Sullivan), coach (Hafley) and quarterback (Willis) to lead their team to the postseason. That’d be quite a load of talent for one organization.

I’m not sure if there’s ever been an occasion of a first-time general manager (Sullivan), first-time head coach in the NFL (Hafley) and first-time starting quarterback (Willis) leaving a franchise together and going to another and succeeding.

This will be fun to watch, and possibly historic.

— Credibility is what’s on the line for Sullivan and Hafley with the Willis acquisition.

Here’s my point: If this doesn’t work, why would you trust Sullivan and Hafley to find the Dolphins’ next starting/franchise quarterback?

Taking the optimistic point of view, if Sullivan and Hafley nail this one, they’re golden. They’ll be here for the next four or five years, minimum.

But if Willis is so-so or worse, there’s a huge credibility gap for this new Dolphins management moving forward.

Granted, it’ll be two, probably three years (trust me, it doesn’t take any longer) before we know whether Willis is a quality starting quarterback. And by then perhaps Sullivan and Hafley will have made a dozen good decisions.

Still, with so much emphasis on the quarterback position, including by Sullivan and Hafley themselves, if Willis doesn’t get the job done it’ll be hard to trust their judgment when they pursue their next quarterback.

— Miami’s standout/difference-making players on offense at this point are running back De’Von Achane, wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, center Aaron Brewer and left tackle Patrick Paul.

Defensively, it’s linebacker Jordyn Brooks and tackle Zach Sieler.

Yes, it’s a short list. That’s not a shock. It was planned.

This season is about adding quality talent and setting a standard.

By the way, right tackle Austin Jackson is capable of being in the difference-making category, if he can stay healthy. And cornerback Kader Kohou (knee) could reach that status if re-signed and fully healthy.

It’d be nice if the past two first-round picks — edge rusher Chop Robinson and defensive tackle Kenneth Grant — became standouts. The same goes for Willis.

As for adding more difference-makers, let’s see what happens in the rest of free agency and in April’s draft. Expect bigger things from the draft than free agency.

— Trading safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to the New York Jets was a great move by Sullivan.

Fitzpatrick, Miami’s 2018 first-round pick who was traded to Pittsburgh because of his unhappiness with the way he was being used at the time, never appeared thrilled about his return to the Dolphins after being traded back here from the Steelers last offseason.

I respect the Dolphins’ apparent stance of “If you don’t want to be here, leave.”

Addition by subtraction.

Nice work.

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