A 7–10 Season and the End of an Era
The Miami Dolphins enter their 57th NFL season carrying the weight of a 2025 collapse. A 7–10 finish, third place in the AFC East, and a head coach who never quite got the roster to perform like the talent suggested it should. Mike McDaniel was fired on January 8, 2026, one day before the front office moved to rebuild the entire football operation from scratch.
Jon-Eric Sullivan came in as general manager on January 9. Jeff Hafley agreed to terms as head coach on January 19. Eleven days between the GM hire and the coaching agreement is a fast timeline, and it signals that Sullivan and ownership had a clear picture of who they wanted before McDaniel’s seat was even cold. Anyone tracking football predictions for today’s matches or future Dolphins games should understand that the 2026 season is being built on a genuinely new foundation, not a cosmetic retool.
The Tua Decision and What Came Next
The transaction that defined the entire offseason came on March 12, 2026. The Dolphins released Tua Tagovailoa with a post-June 1 designation, a move that had been speculated for months but still landed with real weight when it became official. On the same day, they signed quarterback Malik Willis.
Willis is not a proven starter. CBS Sports coverage of the June minicamp framed the situation bluntly: Hafley is in rebuild mode, and Willis is still working toward establishing himself as the clear QB1. That is where the Dolphins’ depth chart stands entering training camp, which is either an honest acknowledgment of the rebuild or a competitive disadvantage depending on how quickly Willis can develop under a new staff. The minicamp itself closed on a positive note, with red-zone periods producing four touchdown passes during team drills, but practice reps and regular-season snaps are different animals entirely.
A March Roster Overhaul
The front office didn’t stop at quarterback. The March transaction log reads like a wholesale reset of the skill position and special teams groups.
On March 13, the Dolphins signed cornerback Marco Wilson, wide receiver Tutu Atwell, guard/tackle Jamaree Slayer, safety Zayne Anderson, long snapper Tucker Addington, and punter Seth Vernon. Three days later, on March 16, tackle Charlie Heck, tight end Ben Sims, linebacker David Ojabo, and wide receiver Jalen Tolbert joined the roster. That’s ten signings across four days, which tells you something about how Sullivan viewed the inherited depth.
The Dolphins also re-signed defensive lineman Matthew Butler, inside linebacker Willie Gay Jr., and kicker Riley Patterson, so there’s continuity on defense even as the offensive side of the ball gets rebuilt around new faces.
June Activity and the Draft Class
By early June, Miami had signed all 13 of their 2026 draft picks, with fifth-round tight end Seydou Traore described as the final piece of the class. The official team site ran press conferences for tight end Greg Dulcich, defensive lineman Zeek Biggers, center Aaron Brewer, edge rusher Chop Robinson, and Hafley himself on June 2 and 3, giving a decent picture of which new faces the organization wants fans to know.
Brewer and linebacker Jordyn Brooks both attended OTAs, which matters for the Dolphins’ depth chart because interior line continuity and linebacker depth were genuine concerns coming out of last season. Adding Jalen Reagor to the wide receiver group in early June, the same week the Dolphins waived safety Jordan Colbert, shows Sullivan is still adjusting the roster at the margins even after the draft class is fully signed.
What the 2026 Season Actually Looks Like
Hafley’s background is as a defensive coordinator and college head coach, so the defense may develop faster than the offense. The Dolphins’ 2026 schedule hasn’t been evaluated against any confirmed strength-of-schedule metric yet, which makes projections genuinely difficult. Anyone digging into Dolphins mock draft 2026 analysis or revisiting Mel Kiper mock draft grades for this class should know that the Dolphins used 13 picks, an aggressive investment in young talent for a team that finished below .500.
The Dolphins’ news cycle this offseason has been almost entirely about transition: new GM, new coach, new quarterback, new special teams personnel. That’s not inherently bad. Rebuilds require tearing things down before building back up. What Sullivan and Hafley have done is move quickly and with apparent conviction, which is at least better than the alternative. Whether Willis can hold the job through a full season, whether the March signings stick on the 53-man roster, and whether the draft class produces any immediate contributors will determine if this team competes in the AFC East or spends another year building toward 2027. The pieces are moving. The outcome is genuinely open.
