With just over two months left until the start of next season, the NFL offseason is nearly complete. Free agency and the draft have passed, post-June 1st cuts and trades have largely been completed, and teams are looking forward to Week 1 of the 2026 season.
The Miami Dolphins, of course, are one of those teams. Miami’s offseason was eventful, to say the least. The team moved off a number of key veterans and starters from the previous year, including quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wide receivers Tyreek
Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
Many have questioned whether or not Miami made the right choices, but lead NFL writer Seth Walder of ESPN thinks they were. Each season, Walder hands out report cards for each of the 32 teams based on their offseason moves. This year, the Dolphins received an A-.
Walder says Miami’s biggest move was signing quarterback Malik Willis to a three-year, $67.5 million contract, and says it’s a “smart risk” for a team in full reset mode. While the sample size is small, his upside is worth betting on. In four starts for the Green Bay Packers in 2025, Willis completed 85% of his passes for 422 yards, tossed for three touchdowns, and ran for 123 yards and two more touchdowns on the ground.
Of course, Miami’s biggest concern is the lack of receiving talent around Willis. Miami did at least attempt address those concerns in the draft, selecting Chris Bell, Caleb Douglas and Kevin Coleman Jr. in April. However, Walder notes that Miami’s roster is still very thin across the board, regardless of any moves made in the draft.
Walder’s overall takeaway is that Miami may not be done building, but the plan appears deliberate. It’s a full reset, no holds barred. Seeing as the team is currently set to have the third-most cap space in 2027, he suggests the Dolphins are positioned to keep get much, much better from here on out.
You can read the full article by Walder on ESPN, linked here.
