Dolphins Sunday Mailbag: Achane, Willis, Washington, and More

Part 2 of the schedule release weekend Miami Dolphins On SI mailbag:

From scootertv13:

Thanks, Alain! From your perspective, which position group(s) do you think Miami will prioritize with bargain FA deals post-June 1?

The two positions that really scream for help at this time remain safety and edge defender, and I have to think this is where the Dolphins will look. We also could make a case for adding another cornerback.

From dolphman99:

Hi Alain, sending this a few hours before the schedule comes out. If the Dolphins start out 2-0 on the season will they then be considered not part of the bottom feeders of the league and be more respected? Don’t understand this decision by him after he was an undrafted signing. How can he just retire without even playing a game in the NFL? Injuries happen in this game. Is he currently injured now? Any injury that would threaten his long-term health?

Yes, if the Dolphins start off 2-0 — now we know it’s going to be against the Las Vegas Raiders and San Francisco 49ers — then the narrative definitely will change. At worse, the narrative will be something like “maybe the Dolphins won’t be as bad as everyone thought,” all the way up to “maybe those Dolphins are legit.” With Le’Veon Moss retiring shortly after signing as an undrafted free agent, just remember that he sustained a pretty significant knee injury late in the 2024 season and dealt with other issues last season. While we don’t know for sure exactly what happened, it simply could be a matter of Moss deciding he never could be the running back he once was or he felt pain during the rookie minicamp or maybe he just decided pursuing an NFL career wasn’t he wanted after all. The bottom line, though, is that it’s not the first time a rookie free agent has retired in the spring.

From Dave Campbell:

Greetings Alain! I usually hate comparing players because there's very few exceptions but I always find myself digging for some historical precedence. Warrick Dunn was considered an undersized RB , like De'Von Achane but had pretty successful career. Derrick Brooks (hated having to use former Bucs players) was considered an undersized LB, like Kyle Louis but had really successful career. As I said, these are exceptions to the rule. With Achane's extension & Dolphins current cap problems, is his extension only effective after June 1? Always look forward to & enjoy both All Dolphins & Dolphins Collective plus I enjoy the detailed content on Miami Dolphins on SI.Com.

Hey Dave, thanks as always for the kind words. With the Dolphins having only $1.5 million of cap space right now, according to Over The Cap, and with Achane’s current cap number at $2.3 million, it basically would be impossible for the extension to go into the books before June (when the Bradley Chubb cap money arrives) unless there are other moves made. One of those could be restructuring Jordyn Brooks’ contract to bring down his cap number of $10.7 million. But it also could be that the extension won’t become official until June — and it doesn’t really matter at this point, though technically either side could back off before it hits the books.

From Thomas Hudson:

Hi Alain, thank you for finding the time to answer so many of these questions. On Malik Washington, I know he has added a spark in the return game at times, but he was a high-volume target at UVA. Would it be worth at least considering pulling him off returns and having him focus exclusively on WR? If Willis is going to be the guy, and I have my doubts, then he needs to be working as much as he can with the WR group. Not only do they need to be working on the regular offense, but they need to work a lot on the scramble drill. Success on broken plays is not just about having a mobile QB, it is about having receivers and a QB who are on the same page about what to do during the scramble drill. That comes from practice. And Washington is the kind of player that can be a security blanket for a QB. He and Willis should already be out there working together, and they should do it as much as they can before the season starts. When the team is doing ST drills, Willis should be working with Washington. Related question: Have you heard any reports of Willis working with some of the receivers on the team? That seems like something that should be happening, though obviously that would be unofficial at this point.

Hey Thomas, I’m not sure the Dolphins view Malik Washington as a high-volume receiver in the NFL despite what happened at Uva. The reality is Washington is an effective player who always will have a role in the NFL because he’s tough and his smart, but he’s smallish and not dynamic. As for Willis working with the receiver, that’s been happening in the offseason program, which moves into the OTA phase next week.

From marc rainford:

How did signing Achane before 1 June affect the struggling cap situation? Also if I can ask a second question, how would signing Brewer and Brooks affect/fix/help the numerous void years?

Hey Marc, look above for the Achane extension and the June 1 date. As for Brewer and Brooks, signing Brewer and Brooks to extensions would not eliminate the void years already on their contracts but rather tack on to them (as in making them more expensive and with a bigger cap hit down the road).

From Coop:

Before the release I was thinking that a successful year would be no 3-game losing streaks… which would add up to 5,6 wins… but they could be 0-5 at the bye.. how good are the niners, Vikings, bengals, lions, colts, bears, packers, chargers?…

Hey Coop, the five games leading up to the bye are against the Raiders, 49ers, Chiefs, Vikings and Bengals, and as big a question of how good those teams will be is how good (or bad) the Dolphins will be. The Raiders should be improved but they were really bad in 2026 and how knows about the Chiefs until we get a clearer picture of how Patrick Mahomes will look early in the season. There are questions about the Vikings offense and the Bengals defense, but the 49ers look like a serious contender. Bottom line is because of all the uncertainty around the NFL entering each year, I would be very surprised if the Dolphins were 0-5 at their bye.

From Jeff Kline:

The Dolphins have 5 scheduled 4pm games with a possibility of a 6th (Patriots). When was the last time the Dolphins had 6, 4pm games in a season?

Hey Jeff, you’re making me a lot of work here … but just for you I looked for the info. From my research, the last time the Dolphins had six 4:05 or 4:25 p.m. games in a season was 2000 and those included home games against Seattle, New York Jets and Indianapolis and road games against the Bengals, Chargers and Colts (they were in the AFC East then so two games against Indy). The Dolphins had five late-afternoon Sunday games in 20220.

From Mark Lever:

I haven’t heard you talk much about Malik Willis and your expectations for him. I just would like to know how you think he’s gonna perform this year and if you think he’s a legitimate starting quarterback.

Hey Mark, I have refrained for making predictions about how Malik Willis will perform because nobody knows and it’s a pointless exercise to a degree. I would say I’m optimistic he can be a good NFL starting quarterback based on his physical profile and the intangibles he brings, but I do question his ability to stay healthy if he’s going to be asked to run a lot — and, let’s face it, that would be a big part of what would make him successful. I did think and wrote that taking a shot that he indeed could be the guy was a move by Jon-Eric Sullivan and Jeff Hafley that I totally endorsed and furthermore I say the Dolphins need to draft a QB early in the 2027 draft if Willis doesn’t provide enough evidence he indeed can be the guy for the next, say, 5-6 years.

From Gabriel:

De’Von Achane is a rare specimen that has the talent to amass 2K rushing and 1K receiving in one season. If he does that this season, what will our record be? It’s a homer hypothetical but not outside realm of possibility.

Hey Gabriel, it’s a homer question, and not a little bit, when you consider the NFL record for most yards from scrimmage in a season is 2,509 yards (by Chris Johnson in 2009). That’s not close to 3,000, which is what Achane obviously would need to reach to pull the 2K/1K you’re suggesting. Look, Achane is a great, dynamic running back, but this is a bit unrealistic. Interestingly, Tennessee was only 8-8 when Johnson had that record season in 2009, so Achane getting 3,000 yards from scrimmage wouldn’t guarantee a great record, but playing along I’ll say the Dolphins would be like 9-8.

From Matthew:

Hey Alain, taking advantage of you letting me ask 2 questions previously to do the same again (although 1 may not actually be a question for yourself). Question 1, why do the Dolphins not do more with their YouTube like other teams do? Seemed like they were going to last year, and we got 1 episode before it was canned. Second question, what’s the chances that Chris Bell spends the entire season on PUP, giving him a better chance of being 100% for 2027. Thanks as always for your solid and insightful work.

Thanks Matthew, yeah, the Dolphins quickly abandoned “Under The Sun” last year, but I can’t answer why they don’t do more team-produced videos beyond the fact they’ve liked keeping everything close to the vest for many years. As for Bell, I would say there’s no reason to keep Bell on PUP if he gets to 100 percent at any point in 2026 because you want him to get experience as quickly as possible. But the Dolphins are going to be ultra careful to not take any chances of an aggravation by bringing him back too early. Let’s call it 50-50.

From Jayco:

On a scale of 1-10, how confident are you that they finally win a playoff game under this regime?

Hey Jayco, based on what I’ve observed so far — and, again, it’s incredibly premature — I’d go with a 7, and this comes from somebody who’s been around a while, so that’s a high score.

From Bubba:

Can we get your in-depth thoughts on the Proctor deal? About he playing LG this year and OC Slowik saying they see him on the left side. Is he the future LT and Paul moving to RT in the future or moving on from him, etc.?

Hey Bubba, no, I don’t believe the Dolphins will be moving Patrick Paul to the right side, but he’ll be extension-eligible after next season and I wouldn’t necessarily eliminate the possibility of Proctor becoming a replacement if Paul leaves as a free agent eventually. More likely, I believe we’ll see Proctor move to right tackle in 2027, with him staying at left guard the last likely of the three scenarios.

From John Hughes:

Is there any chance some of the Dolphins game could be flexed to weekday mornings?

Looks like we have a comedian in our midst.

From Prince-Bishop Militantly Aardvark:

Hi Alain. Discouraging schedule, overall. I had trouble picking out obviously winnable games. I could see the Dolphins reaching (almost) unknown depths this season. Am I being too negative?

Hey PBMA, why did the release of the schedule make a difference in your outlook considering we already knew all their opponents and the site of each game? If you’re going by 2025 results, yeah, it’s easy to get discouraged, but I have some level of confidence in the new regime and can’t imagine the Dolphins ever will have another season as dreadful as what happened in 2007.

From MiamiMike:

Enjoy your site and reporting, Alain. Can this team get to 5 or 6 wins? Is that a reasonable expectation?

Hey Mike, yes, the Dolphins can get to five wins. I would encourage you to check out my game-by-game predictions.

Add us as a preferred source on Google