How does the Dolphins’ roster looks after the signing of Malik Willis?
The Miami Dolphins landed the big fish.
In what surprised many, the Dolphins and free agent quarterback Malik Willis agreed to a three-year, $67.5 million deal on Monday. With Willis, Miami has seemingly found its quarterback of the future. But for the Dolphins to be successful, they will have their fair share of holes to fill.
“The reality of the situation is we have 30-plus unrestricted and restricted free agents,” general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan said. “And we got eight picks as we sit here today and not a ton of money to do stuff in free agency. We have a bit of an uphill climb.”
Offensively, Miami still needs add depth on the interior, something that got a whole lot more difficult now that guard Cole Strange followed former Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel to the Los Angeles Chargers. They also need to find backups at both tackle positions now that Larry Borom decided to go to go the Detroit Lions.
The Dolphins did, however, improve their tight end room. Miami re-signed Greg Dulcich who provided somewhat of a spark, especially late in the season, as he finished with 26 catches for 335 yards and a touchdown. Prior to his deal, the Dolphins’ tight end room had three players — Jalin Conyers, Cole Turner and Zack Kuntz — that had become practice squad mainstays.
“He is a very good football player with the nuances of getting leverage on defenders, how to be able to separate from them with an understanding of the timing of the play,” former coach Mike McDaniel said of Dulcich. “Then he is a tough guy to tackle. I knew his hands and ball skills and route running were good.”
It also remains to be seen whether the Dolphins will bring back Darren Waller, the 33-year-old who came out of retirement to play for McDaniel in 2025 yet only suited up nine games due to injury, or Julian Hill, who has steadily improved as a blocker.
“He’s very smart, sees what defenses are trying to do, can make adjustments on the fly,” former Dolphins tight ends coach Jon Embree said. “He understands what we’re trying to accomplish with our runs, and he can play freer. Once he cleans up a couple things, he’ll be the standard of what you want in a blocking tight end.”
Miami could also benefit great from some help in the receiver room. Led by Jaylen Waddle, the group also includes Malik Washington, Theo Wease Jr., Tahj Washington, AJ Henning and Terrance Marshall Jr. For context, Waddle has more receiving yards during his last two seasons (1,654) – which many considered down years — than the other four in their entire career (1,524).
Defensively, the holes are plentiful, particularly at edge rusher and cornerback. Chop Robinson, the Dolphins’ 2024 first-round pick, leads an edge group that features Derrick McLendon II, Seth Coleman and the recently re-signed Cameron Goode. All eyes will be on Robinson, who’s finally the unquestioned starter for the first time in his career.
“Chop is in a great position because he’s going to be the elder statesmen and in a position of leadership,” Sullivan said. “My expectations for him are to work his ass off, continue to improve and be a leader in that locker room.”
It doesn’t look much better at cornerback, either. Jason Marshall Jr., the 2025 fifth-round pick out of Florida, gained the most experience last season as the Dolphins opted to convert him to a nickel cornerback. JuJu Brents, who showed flashes in his two-game stint as a starter yet sustained a season-ending foot injury, could end up as an answer at one cornerback spot.
“I’m excited about Marshall,” Sullivan said. “I want to see JuJu Brents get healthy.”
The Dolphins’ other options — Ethan Bonner, Jason Maitre, Miles Battle, Ethan Robinson and Storm Duck, another player who missed most of the season with a knee injury — bring minimal starter experience, even further proving that the position needs to be addressed. Miami also should fortify the safety and nickel rooms after Monday’s trade of Minkah Fitzpatrick to the New York Jets.
At linebacker, the Dolphins have a decision to make with Tyrel Dodson who, if cut, could bring roughly $3 million in cap savings – though it’s unlikely that they could sign a player of his caliber for what would likely be the veteran minimum. All-Pro linebacker Jordyn Brooks holds down the other linebacker spot yet with Willie Gay Jr. and KJ Britt currently free agents, the Dolphins need depth – and not in the form of practice squad players like Jackson Woodard.
The position with the most clarity, however, happens to be defensive tackle. Not only do the Dolphins have a fringe Pro Bowler in Zach Sieler, they spent three picks in the 2025 draft – Kenneth Grant (No. 13), Jordan Phillips (No. 143) and Zeek Biggers (No. 253) – to further fortify the defensive trenches.
As far as special teams is concerned, the Dolphins did sign Zane Gonzalez to a one-year deal. Gonzalez most recently played for the Atlanta Falcons where he hit 86.4% of his field goals and 94.4% of his extra points across nine games. Miami, however, still needs a punter and a long snapper.
Despite the plethora of holes, the Dolphins did the seemingly impossible with the Willis signing. The front office now has who they believe will be the guy, something that more than half of the league finds themselves without. Now, to quote Sullivan, it’s all about the infrastructure.
“We have to focus most on right now is making sure that we build infrastructure,” Sullivan said. “And yes, we need to get the quarterback situation in place, but we’re not going to do it in an irresponsible manner, where we sacrifice building the infrastructure of this football team so that when we do find our guy, he can go be successful.”
