The Dolphins’ trade of wide receiver Jaylen Waddle to the Broncos was the team’s latest offseason move to elicit questions about their goals for the coming season. Moving Waddle while parting ways with a slew of other veterans in moves that have left the team with significant dead cap money has led many to suggest that the Dolphins are looking at 2026 as a year to focus on building for the future while passing on doing all they can to compete in the present. General Manager Jon-Eric Sullivan was asked about that perception during an appearance on PFT Live this week and Sullivan called it a “false” premise. While he acknowledged that he and head coach Jeff Hafley stepped into “a unique situation,” Sullivan insisted that the roster maneuvers are being done with an eye on trying to win right away. “I have incredible faith in Jeff Hafley’s ability to lead,” Sullivan said. “I know that he and his staff will have this team ready to play and we’re going to show up and compete. Where it goes, it goes. We’ll build this thing out for the future, but we’re here to win now as well. Make no mistake about it.” Sullivan noted that a lot of players on the Dolphins roster are on one-year deals, which does create a lot of motivation for players to put their best showings on tape. Whether players in that contractual position for a team coming off a poor season are the right ones to create a winner is a question that will be answered in the fall.
I think that he's saying what he thinks he needs to say to appease the anti-tank cult. They were loud the last time and were already out in force before Sullivan and Haffley were even hired this time. So he says that they plan to win regardless of what he actually expects will happen, which i think its probably something like 2-15.
Based on the moves Sullivan has made thus far, it’s not a tank. He walked in to most likely the WORST situation in the league when it came to the salary cap. Tua, Chubb, Ramsey, Tyreek. Grier had so much of our salary cap tied up in luxuries we simply couldn’t afford. The only way to get the team healthy was to take it on the chin this season and cut the pork from the roster. $170 million in dead cap space on just 3 of those players. Mind boggling. I know this season is going to be tough. Having so little money and signing multiple 1 year “prove it” contracts can potentially be that proverbial carrot for players to prove they deserve to be on the team and potentially earn a big payday. Next season we’re projected to have $145 million in cap space. That’s going to be able to sign these players that proved it to a longer termed contract they worked for. But also keep in mind, the Green Bay model for years has been build through the draft. Have those young hungry players and keep them longer term. Now while it sucked to trade Waddle, it was a win for the Dolphins. Waddle is one of the better receivers in the league and the price of wide receivers is only going up. Better to trade him now for a 1st and 3rd round pick to build the future than potentially be held hostage to a new contract demand, which was the Grier model.
Man, we really need to nail the draft. Then, we need to find the right mix of rookies and experienced players to get the young guys a chance to grow. Ideally, we might take lumps early in the season but progressively improve as the game slows down. I'm not expecting anything but to avoid embarrassing play like we saw the first half of last season and something at the end of the year that makes me believe Hafley can coach, Sully can scout and make transactions, and I have a logical reason to think that 2027 will see upward competitive performance trends.
