Dolphins Have First Draft Pick Under Contract

Quarterback Quinn Ewers was selected in the seventh round of the University of Texas

Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) warms up prior to the Cotton Bowl Classic College Football Playoff semifinal game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Texas Longhorns at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Jan. 10, 2025. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On the eve of their weekend minicamp, the Miami Dolphins have begun the process of working out contracts for their 2025 draft picks.

The team agreed to terms Thursday with quarterback Quinn Ewers, the seventh-round selection out of the University of Texas.

Ewers will get the standard four-year contract, meaning the Dolphins now have his rights through the 2028 season.

Ewers was the next-to-last of the Dolphins' seven picks in the 2025 NFL, following Kenneth Grant, Jonah Savaiinaea, Jordan Phillips, Jason Marshall Jr., Dante Trader Jr. and Ollie Gordon II, and ahead of defensive tackle Zeek Biggers.

DIFFERENT YEAR WITH DRAFT PICK SIGNINGS

With the Dolphins having the cap space to sign their entire rookie class, the process of getting all the draft picks under contract should be much quicker than it was last year.

The Dolphins didn't sign any of their seven draft picks in 2024 before June 4, with first-round pick Chop Robinson becoming the last under contract June 13.

The Dolphins needed to wait until June to sign their draft picks last year because they needed the space created by the post-June 1 release of cornerback Xavien Howard.

EYES ON EWERS

The team selected Ewers with the 231st pick in the seventh round, adding him to a room with starter Tua Tagovailoa and backup Zach Wilson. Ewers’ selection continues a notable trend for the Dolphins. 

He’s the third consecutive non-first-round quarterback selected in the seventh round, following Brandon Doughty in 2016 and Skylar Thompson in 2022. The last time the Dolphins selected a quarterback in Rounds 3,4, or 5 was 1990. 

We wrote about the possibility that the Dolphins should add another young quarterback in the draft and even named Ewers the quarterback who most resembles Tua’s play style, so this pick makes sense from multiple perspectives. 

Most media boards had Ewers as one of the 10 best quarterbacks in the class, so the Dolphins making him the 13th quarterback off the board is technically good value. 

How Ewers Fits in Miami 

Ewers already should be pretty familiar with a lot of the broad concepts in Miami’s offense. 

Texas head coach and play-caller Steve Sarkisian studied the Dolphins’ offense and assigned Ewers many of the same pre-snap motion and ball-handling responsibilities that Tagovailoa has in Miami.

Ewers was asked to work quick-game concepts similarly to Tagovailoa and to throw with trust in the offense more than reading out defenses. 

Pair that with Ewers’ mediocre-at-best arm talent, and it’s easy to see why coach Mike McDaniel feels like his system can maximize the Texas product. Ewers has to win with anticipation from the pocket and can’t afford to hold the ball and hunt big plays down the field.

He’s got a lean frame and doesn’t have the needed athletic profile to extend plays and make throws out of structure. The Dolphins’ offense focuses on getting the ball out quickly, which should protect Ewers from having to do too much on his own. 

Although Ewers doesn’t project like a potential starter, he could be capable of keeping the Dolphins’ offense afloat as a backup, assuming he develops well enough. 

Why Backup QB Is Extra Important 

Miami’s lack of a good backup quarterback during the McDaniel era has sunk several promising seasons. Tagovailoa is a good quarterback when he plays, but he’s played one full season and has suffered a myriad of injuries. 

This offseason, the Dolphins have made an effort to fix this problem long-term by investing in young players at the position instead of veterans. Wilson is 25 years old with many promising traits, but he needs to be developed a lot. 

Ewers’ traits are far less good, but he might be more mechanically sound and accurate than Wilson. Either way, the Dolphins seem to be prioritizing figuring out the backup quarterback position in the long run, rather than this season. 

We don’t have a lot of optimism that’ll be successful with Wilson and Ewers, but the thought process makes sense. Hitting on a young backup, especially one in the draft, would allow the Dolphins to save money by not paying out a quarterback-inflated contract every offseason. 

And it would also give the team some stability behind Tagovailoa. Whether Ewers works out or not, the Dolphins need to start taking swings at quarterbacks who can fill the backup spot. Taking that swing in the seventh round is about as low risk as it gets.

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