Dolphins star RB De’Von Achane not here during first day of offseason workout
The Miami Dolphins’ two biggest offensive pieces had different starts to the beginning of voluntary offseason workouts.
Star running back De’Von Achane didn’t show up while quarterback Malik Willis had a great conversation with Jeff Hafley, the coach relayed Tuesday afternoon. Achane’s absence was related to his pursuit of a contract extension as he enters into the last year of his rookie deal, something Hafley didn’t want to fully discuss.
“I’m not going to dive into those talks right now,” Hafley said Tuesday. “That’s all a part of the business. It’s part of what every team goes through in those situations, and they’ll work it out.”
Achane will earn roughly $5.77 million in 2026. The tailback, however, made his first Pro Bowl in 2025, racking up 1,350 yards on the ground, eight rushing touchdowns and league-leading 5.7 yards per carry. Achane also had a team-high 67 receptions for 488 yards and four touchdown reception.
General manager Jon-Eric Sullivan has previously called Achane “a building block” and expressed a desire to sign him to an extension.
“Achane is a very, very important piece of what we want to do moving forward,” Sullivan said March 30 at the owner’s meeting. “He’s a building block for us. It is a priority for us to get a deal done for him in the coming weeks, months.”
As far as numbers go, Achane likely wants a deal in the range of Buffalo Bills running back James Cook, who signed a four-year, $48 million contract extension in August 2025. The issue: several other running backs including the Detroit Lions’ Jahmyr Gibbs, Atlanta Falcons’ Bijan Robinson, New York Jets’ Breece Hall and Indianapolis Colts’ Jonathan Taylor all have two or fewer years on their contracts and could threaten to drive up the price. That means it’s incumbent for Sullivan to get the deal done as soon as possible.
“Nobody is untouchable in this business because you never know who is on the other side of the phone and what they want to offer, but there is zero effort on my end to move Achane,” Sullivan said. “I’m very excited about him. He’s a difference-maker for us.”
Willis, however, had a different official start to his Dolphins tenure. Miami signed the quarterback to a three-year, $67.5 million contract near the start of free agency with the hope that he can grow into a franchise guy. Hafley’s advice to the 26-year-old was rather simple.
“’Don’t change who you are,’” Hafley recalled telling Willis. “I said ‘Don’t put any extra pressure on yourself. You earned the right to be here and this opportunity, and you’ve done that by doing all the things the right way. Don’t change that. Don’t press. Just be you.’”
With only six NFL starts, Willis could want to prove that he’s more than his brief professional resume, something that could result in changing what got him here. Hafley, however, wants the young quarterback to avoid those landmines.
“I just wanted to make sure that he understands that it doesn’t have to be perfect,” Hafley continued. “There’s going to be mistakes made. I want him to play with that confidence and I want him to play the way he’s always done it.”
What will make Willis’ job infinitely more difficult is the lack of proven weapons. As of this writing, the Dolphins’ pass-catching core — Jalen Tolbert, Malik Washington, Tutu Atwell, Theo Wease Jr., Tahj Washington, Terrace Marshall Jr., AJ Henning, Greg Dulcich, Ben Sims, Jalin Conyers and Cole Turner — doesn’t have a guy who has posted more than 1,000 yards through the air in the NFL. Oh, and his star running back didn’t report Tuesday.
Hopefully, the Achane conundrum will be solved sooner than later, allowing Willis to begin building sooner rather than later — even if Phase One of the offseason program doesn’t allow for much on-field work.
This story was originally published April 7, 2026 at 2:20 PM.
