It\u2019s no secret that the 2026 Miami Dolphins are going to look a whole lot different than they have in recent years.<\/p>\n
For starters, they have hired a new general manager \u2014 Jon-Eric Sullivan \u2014 who has taken a wrecking ball to the team\u2019s roster in order to rebuild a squad that saw their record go from 11-6 in 2023, to 8-9 in 2024, and down to 7-10 last season. As a result, Mike McDaniel was sent packing in favor of a new head coach \u2014 Jeff Hafley. What about the quarterback position? Tua Tagovailoa<\/a> was given a major payday by former general manager Chris Grier, only to be cut by Sullivan to the tune of a record $99.2 million dead cap hit. To replace the former #5 overall pick, Miami<\/a> signed former Titans and Packers<\/a> backup, Malik Willis to a three-year deal.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN released an article on Saturday detailing Miami\u2019s expectations for their new signal-caller. Hafley knows what he has in Willis \u2014 the two spent the past couple of seasons working closely in Green Bay<\/a> \u2014 so he doesn\u2019t want his starting quarterback focused on the wrong things at this juncture of the offseason.<\/p>\n \u201cMy main focus for him right now is to learn the scheme, get to know the players and not overdo the whole leadership thing. I mean, I think that\u2019s my job and [the coaching staff\u2019s] job right now, so he can focus on becoming the best quarterback and the best player and the best teammate he can be.\u201d<\/p>\n Miami\u2019s offensive coordinator, Bobby Slowik, agrees.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in the early stages of the scheme stuff, that takes a back seat right now. Most of our talks right now are like fundamentals, and he\u2019s all about what we\u2019re doing. It\u2019s very similar to what he did in Green Bay and we\u2019re just having a lot of fun right now.\u201d<\/p>\n How does Willis feel about the organization\u2019s plan of easing him into a position of leadership?<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about building trust,\u201d Willis said. \u201cI mean, every play we go out there, whether it\u2019s calling the play, whether it\u2019s executing the play, whether it\u2019s making sure somebody else can get lined up, you build that over time. I don\u2019t think you just put somebody in a position to say, \u2018Okay, you\u2019re the leader now.\u2019 You got to earn that.\u201d<\/p>\n