Could GM Jon-Eric Sullivan Kick the Tires on His Former First-Round Pick?

Darnell Savage once was picked by the Packers when Jon-Eric Sullivan was in Green Bay. Could uncertainty at the safety position cause Sullivan to look to give him another chance?

Green Bay Packers safety Darnell Savage (26) returns an interception for a touchdown during the second quarter of the wild card playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday, January 14, 2024 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Miami Dolphins are off and running in training camp as they are barreling toward their first preseason game set to take place next week.

Roster building, however, is a 365-day-a-year job. General managers are always scouring the waiver wires, street free agents, and any other opportunity to make their team better. That’s the job that Jon-Eric Sullivan signed up for when he took the general manager job in Miami.

Now, it’s possible that he could be looking for a way to help his new team with an eye toward his old team.

Safety Darnell Savage was released by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, and there is a connection between Sullivan and Savage that could make a union worth exploring.

The Sullivan/Savage History

Sullivan was in Green Bay during the 2019 NFL Draft when the Packers were armed with two first round picks and trying to reload their team to help Aaron Rodgers make a run at the Super Bowl at the end of his career.

The Packers owned the 12th and 30th picks in the first round of the draft that year and used their first round pick on Michigan pass rusher Rashan Gary. Gary was supposed to help build a buzz saw next to prized free agent acquisitions Za’Darius and Preston Smith.

Eyes shifted toward their second pick in the first round, but the Packers would not pick 30th, instead moving up with two fourth round picks to 21 in order to get on the clock sooner.

Conventional wisdom said the Packers would be looking for an offensive player after spending their first pick on defense, but instead they took Savage to pair with Adrian Amos, who they had signed earlier that offseason.

Savage was drafted to be the free safety in Mike Pettine’s defense, which was a role that carried a lot of responsibility.

Savage had the versatility to move into the slot as well, which is something the Packers toyed with throughout his career in Green Bay.

The best years of Savage’s career in Green Bay were the first two. His rookie season had some ups and downs, but he flashed high end speed and decisiveness on the ball.

He finished the year with two forced fumbles and two interceptions before his breakout season in 2020 made it look like he was destined for stardom.

Savage finished that season with four interceptions, and looked like a player who had the ability to make impact plays on the ball from the safety position.

He would not match the four interceptions for the rest of his career in Green Bay as he had just three in his final three years for the Packers.

Those three years were bumpy as he battled with a change at defensive coordinator, and some inconsistency in his own play.

In 2022, he was benched during the season for veteran journeyman Rudy Ford before being moved to slot cornerback late in the season as a potential position change.

He was given a chance in 2023 to try and secure a long-term contract in Green Bay playing under his fifth-year option, but it was not meant to be. Savage would play in 10 games, and did not make any impact plays on the ball.

A career that began in Green Bay that appeared to have so much promise ultimately ended in disappointment as the Packers did not try to re-sign Savage before he moved to Jacksonville to play with the Jaguars.

Since leaving Green Bay, Savage has bounced around the league including spending time with four teams in 2025. He has just one interception since leaving Green Bay at the end of the 2023 season, struggled in coverage, and has the reputation as a poor tackler, missing close to 17 percent of tackles during his NFL career according to PFF.

He was trying to fight for a spot in Pittsburgh’s secondary, but will need to look for a different opportunity.

Uncertainty at Safety

Perhaps that opportunity could be in Miami. The connection with Sullivan could mean that there is still some belief in the skill set that Savage had coming out of college with the potential to translate in Jeff Hafley’s defense.

Savage and Hafley never intersected during their time in Green Bay, but Savage’s versatility in the secondary is something that Hafley has traditionally valued as evidenced by draft choices of Javon Bullard in Green Bay, and Chris Johnson in Miami.

While Hafley did not pull the trigger on drafting those players, he likely was an advocate for both players to add to his defense.

Miami’s safety room has been a point of contention for most of the offseason. Lonnie Johnson Jr is slated to start after coming over as an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

After that, it’s anyone’s guess. Zayne Anderson, Dante Trader Jr, and Michael Taafe are three players who could vie for playing time throughout training camp.

There is not a lot of proven NFL production in the aforementioned trio. Anderson has been primarily a special teams player during his career. Trader Jr. was a fifth-round pick in 2025. Taafe was a fifth-round pick in 2026.

In general, the Dolphins are likely to learn toward younger players in the process of getting through their rebuild on defense. Savage is still under 30, having just turned 29 in July. There still could be some production to squeeze out of him.

He’s a potential buy-low candidate after being released by Pittsburgh. He won’t cost a lot of money. Will that be enough for Sullivan to try and reunite with someone his previous organization spent a first-round pick on?