Chris Perkins: Sullivan and Hafley continue offering Dolphins fans reason to believe

The NFL offseason, above all else — above the trades, the draft, free agency, the rule changes, the scandals, above everything — is about selling hope. And much of it is false hope.

Against that backdrop, I continue to think that a much-needed culture change is happening with the Miami Dolphins, an organization that’s coming off back-to-back losing seasons and hasn’t won a playoff game since 2000.

Listen to Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan when he was asked at the annual NFL meeting on Monday whether the Dolphins are in a rebuild.

“You can draw your own conclusions,” Sullivan said, “but we’re here to be competitive day in and day out, and we’re here to win.

“The whole rebuild, retool thing, I don’t believe in that. I think it sends a terrible message to the locker room.”

A day later coach Jeff Hafley was asked how he intends to impart toughness and accountability into his players.

“I think you set a standard and you talk to the players about what the expectation is and you hold them to it,” he said. “You make it very black and white. These are the things we talked about together, this is the standard that we want, this is how we’re going to hold each other accountable, and then we’re going to hold you to it.”

I love that kind of stuff.

This is a change. It’s a hard-nosed, old-school mentality that’s led by common sense discipline and respect.

However, this change goes much deeper than the GM and coach.

This is probably the most extreme one-year, top-to-bottom cleansing that the Dolphins have undergone in decades.

This is truly taking a broom and sweeping out the organization. The most recognizable and influential names and faces of the past few years are gone.

The general manager, head coach, assistant GM, heads of the scouting department, coaching staff, quarterback, top two receivers and top two pass rushers are all gone.

Everything is new. Philosophy (draft and develop). Strategy (run the ball, be physical). Approach (this will be a well-disciplined team).

At the top of the pyramid, the Dolphins have brought in two new significant voices in Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman, who has said he expects to continue working with the Dolphins in some capacity, and Daniel Sillman, an executive with Dolphins owner Steve Ross’ Relevant Company.

The Dolphins’ way of thinking is now different.

It’s not that the previous way was bad. It was a new-school approach. There’s nothing wrong with that. But it didn’t work. And the necessary changes weren’t made.

Now, change has officially been made.

Will this approach work?

We’ll see.

But I like it so far.

Here’s how I define what I’ve seen and heard from Sullivan and Hafley for the 2026 Dolphins: Expect to win. Expect to have to fight for your job every day. Expect this to be hard. Compete. Be accountable. Embrace it. Love it. You’re built for this.

Sullivan and Hafley value mental toughness, aggression, physicality and locker room leadership over speed and entertainment value.

Obviously, it’s way too early to draw conclusions. Players don’t even report for the offseason workout program until April 7. Hafley doesn’t even know most of these guys personally at this point. So this is all very, very preliminary.

And I don’t want to sell false hope.

In fact, I prefer to peddle reality in the offseason.

The reality is that Sullivan is a first-time GM and Hafley is a first-time head coach at the NFL level, and that combination isn’t usually a formula for NFL success. They have an unproven quarterback, a financial mess to clean up, and they’ll have to outperform league norms in the draft-and-develop area to succeed.

NFL reality says this crashes and burns far short of its goal of winning a Super Bowl.

But this is also reality: I like what I hear from Sullivan and Hafley when it comes to basic football issues such as discipline, aggression, accountability, mindset and mentality.

I’ve told you that I disagree with the biggest move Sullivan and Hafley have made — signing quarterback Malik Willis. I would have acquired my long-term quarterback in 2027. But I hope Willis succeeds.

I also greatly disagree with allowing cornerback Kader Kohou to depart; they’ll regret that decision.

The point here is that I haven’t blindly signed off on every major move the new regime has made when it comes to acquiring players or releasing players.

And I’m a long way from saying they’ll win a playoff game in Hafley’s tenure.

Still, I like what Sullivan and Hafley are doing overall.

The Dolphins have undergone a culture change in the front office and on the coaching staff. Now, most importantly, it must happen in the locker room.

Everybody sells hope in the offseason. Every coaching change is good. Every signing has an upside. Every team can accomplish its goals. Most of it isn’t rooted in reality.

Here’s my reality with Sullivan and Hafley: When football folks preach old-school discipline, defense, run game, toughness and competition while saying they want a player-led team, they’ve got my attention.

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