The first name to fall was an expected one, WR Tyreek Hill who very may not play for any team this season as he still has at least one more surgery and then of course rehab from that procedure. We heard Bradley Chubb’s name as well but he’s yet to be officially cut. A trade seems unlikely, Chubb is currently #11 in salary at his position which is a problem for a 30 year old pass rusher who was tied for 20th in sacks in 2025, and didn’t play in 2024. Teams will just wait for the inevitable cut rather than surrendering a valuable draft pick. These are the obstacles Sully is faced with while trying to improve the roster. Former Dolphins GM Chris Grier has left this team with a mess, and Jon Eric-Sullivan was hired to clean it up. Clean it up he will, but patience is necessary from the fanbase.
In case you didn’t know, NFL Free Agency precedes the Draft by a good month and change, as March 9th will be the day NFL Free Agency begins. More importantly for us, however is the NFL Combine which is just 3 days away, beginning on Sunday February 23 through March 2nd. Our roster will be chock full of drafted, and undrafted players from this upcoming draftand you can expect us to pick low level free agents at a few positions as well to fill in. Sully will have to be prudent while we’re all patient. You can’t realistically expect Sully and Haf to turn it all around in one season. I think the 2027 season we can expect improvement as we will have had 2 drafts to turn over some of the roster as well as having some cap space in ’27 to improve the roster some.
The Malik Willis to Miami talk never stops. I personally think that would be a mistake. We have Quinn Ewers, and we can add another QB in this draft and find an inexpensive veteran QB to round out the QB room and have a nice little competition there. Hey! What about Tua? What about him! All signs point to his exodus, whether it’s via some kind of unlikely trade or a very painful cut which will cost a monumental $99M!!! Even if we somehow find a trade partner we will have to absorb a major chunk of Tua’s salary. It’s the mistake that keeps on giving! Those of you faithful readers know and remember how I railed against giving him that contract and wanted to play him on his 5th year option. It doesn’t matter now, what’s done is done, we just have to take the pain and move on from the mistake that hopefully taught us how NOT to do things. I feel like signing Malik Willis would be a similar mistake, not as costly as Tua obviously, but a big mistake regardless. We should be in good position to draft a QB next year and there should be at least 5 first round QB’s such as Arch Manning, Dante Moore, Julian Sayin, LaNorris Sellers, DJ Lagway, Brendan Sorsby and Jyden Maiavia. Not all of these QB’s will be first round picks, but the point is that next season’s draft will be ripe with options, where this year’s draft has one legit 1st RD prospect that will be going #1 to either the Raiders or some team that pays a kings ransom to to the Raiders.
I’m excited about the combine, I haven’t really dove into the prospects yet, but once the combine gets going, I’ll really get into it and find my list of players I hope we get. The positions we need are everywhere, but I think priorities should be EDGE, CB, WR, OL, S and not necessarily in that order. All are important, premium positions, and since we cut Tyreek and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, and looks like Bradley Chubb is next either via trade or cut, and Chop Robinson is our only EDGE rusher. At CB, we don’t really have a starter on the roster, so don’t be surprised if EDGE or CB is RD 1. The fact that Grier traded up for a complete dud so far in LG Jonah Savaiinaea, and he picked up a dud that played 3 snaps in James Daniels who was also cut, you can see how we may be busy on the O-line as well. Thanks Chris Grier, you fucked us dry you dirty dog! It’s a mess, but I’m confident Sully will be the right man to right the ship here, and Godspeed to him in doing so!
GO DOLPHINS!!!
Finsmob Unleashed 
FOIST!
And secondly, Mike E, do NOT forget my guy BYRUM BROWN as a potential QB for us next Draft! 😀
1st RD guy?
Godspeed…or whatever narcotic your deity chooses to self-medicate with.
🙃
”you fucked us dry you dirty dog”
😂
😁
Good write Mike.
There is always a little bit of need in picks, but I want to see us go BPA as much as we can, no matter the position. We needed a DT, and we took Grant who had a very mediocre rookie season. Hopefully he can progress under this regime.
If we take BPA, we have a better chance of making this team the best it can possibly be in the long run, rather than just taking the best at a position of need, which isn’t necessarily the BPA on the board. I don’t love the two CBs that should be available at 11, so I’d rather go BPA, whether that is edge, OL, S, LB, or whatever
Mike E,
I think there’s probably a $$$ threshold Sully will not cross as it pertains to signing Malik Willis, but I’m sure there’s mutual interest in reuniting in Miami.
I also think the ball is in Malik’s court: he can chase the $$$ to become an immediate starter in a likely foreign offensive system (probably the end of his potential career trajectory), or he can choose to take a ‘hometown discount’ as it were, to remain in good hands with Sully and Hafner.
If I were Malik? I’d come to sunny Miami, no income tax, and stay with Sully and Hafner on a discounted FA deal… also knowing that Bobby Slowick could probably bring out the best in his offensive system, being they seem to be a match.
AGAIN, I want to express there is likely a $$$ number that Sully will not cross. So if Malik wants to exceed that number, sorry, we’re not interested. JMO
Here’s my thoughts on Malik to Miami. Unless you think he’s your guy down the line, don’t spend more than a couple of million on QB because you may have a guy in Quinn, and you should have an excellent shot at a franchise QB in 2027.
That’s pretty much where I’m at as well. Though, I’d be willing to spend a little more (not much more) than you would for Malik Willis.
IF I was a gambler (which I am not), I predict Malik will chase the $$$ (once in a lifetime opportunity) and price himself out of our range. That would be… unfortunate for Malik and his long-term $$$ earning power and potential as a future QB.
Mike E.
says:
February 20, 2026 at 2:44 pm
1st RD guy?
———–
Absolutely, contingent upon how he (Byrum Brown) does in ’26, now with Auburn. He threw for over 3,000 yards and rushed for over 1,000 yards last season with USF.
YES… he’s a STUD… and a prototypical QB for the new NFL. Though he’s not as big as Cam Newton, there are shades of Cam Newton in Byrum Brown’s game.
Byrum Brown is 6’4″, 231 pounds.
He’s the duel-threat QB you’ve and we’ve been looking for.
Thanks M – I’ll keep my eyes on him
You know eyes, my guy! Yes… definitely keep your eyes on him.
I see y’all talking about Drew Allar again… hmmmmm. I’ll say this: if somebody can unlock his potential, he could become a good-very good QB in the NFL. He just doesn’t have ‘IT’. He’s not a gamer, more of a classic choke artist.
Great kid by nearly every account, and I’m rooting for his success!
I MUST maintain my grade out of principle: late 4th-5th rounder… though I CAN see somebody reaching for him in the 3rd round, which I will predict. Great size, great arm, and he can run. And he’s SO easy to root for.
I’m sorry, but I’m NOT using one of our 3rd rounders to reach for Allar. We’ve got too many other areas to address. JMO
And I quite honestly try to keep my pro-PSU bias checked at the door… I hope y’all have seen that over the many years.
And speaking of being honest and PSU, I can’t seem to NOT draft Dani-Dennis Sutton on like 75% of mock-draft simulators… so there’s that!
Yes, I feel DDS is going to be a STUD at the next level. Give him to me in round 3.
I’ve seen Allar play several times. I wouldn’t touch him. He is going to need A LOT of coaching and development. I’d prefer to draft a kid…if you’re going to draft a QB….like Shough last year.
Good write, Mike. We’re in such an unknown place as fans right now. We all know this is going to be a rebuild over the next 2 years and it will be up to a lot of young players and hopefully quality coaching.
QB’s I would take and where:
4th round – Garrett Nussmeier
5th round – Sawyer Robertson, Drew Allar
7th round – Cade Klubnik, Cole Payton, Joe Fagnano
UDFA – Haynes King, Joey Aguilar, Preston Stone, Luke Altmeyer, Behren Morton