Breaking Down the Addition of Malik Willis

The Miami Dolphins' cap problem wasn't enough in the end to keep them from the quarterback they wanted.

New GM Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley indeed are bringing former Green Bay Packers backup Malik Willis to take over as the starter, the news breaking a few hours after the team announced it was going to release Tua Tagovailoa on Wednesday.

The deal with Willis is for three years and $67.5 million with the first two years fully guaranteed at $45 million, per Albert Breer of the MMQB.

While the structure of the deal still has to be examined when the details are revealed, it's certainly not an egregious amount of money for a starting quarterback but could be looked at as pricey considering Willis' relative lack of inexperience.

A third-round pick of the Tennessee Titans in the 2022 NFL draft, Willis has only six career starts on his resume, three as a rookie and three over the past two seasons as Jordan Love's backup in Green Bay.

But Willis showed great potential in his Green Bay action, particularly his one start last season when he completed 18 of 21 passes for 288 yards and one touchdown and added 60 yards rushing against the Baltimore Ravens. Though the Packers lost the game, 41-24, Willis solidified his status as perhaps the top free agent quarterback on the market this offseason.

The Arizona Cardinals, now coached by Packers head coach Matt LaFleur's brother Mike, were believed to be the front-runners for Willis based on their ability to offer him a bigger contract, and it'll be interesting to see if they simply balked at matching a $45 million guarantee or Willis chose the Dolphins for other reasons, perhaps a preference to play in Miami or be reunited with Sullivan and Hafley.

The addition of Willis and the financial commitment almost certainly means that the idea of the Dolphins drafting Ty Simpson should be put away.

The Dolphins still maybe might draft a quarterback at some point for more competition in the backup role, but the team already has young players Quinn Ewers and Cam Miller on the roster, so it might become a bit of overkill.

WILLIS JOINS LIST OF POST-MARINO QUARTERBACKS

Given the financial commitment the Dolphins made, the idea of a quarterback competition would seem to be out the window now even despite Sullivan saying after his hiring this was going to be a priority.

Immediately, Willis' arrival should give the Dolphins offense a dimension they never had with Tagovailoa, that being a running quarterback who can regularly pick up first downs with his legs or give the defense something else to think about.

Of course, the flip side to that is the risk of injury, and this is where Willis' stature needs to be mentioned because he's got the same exact listed physical dimensions as Tua Tagovailoa at 6-1, 225 pounds.

Willis, however, doesn't come to Miami with the same kind of injury history that Tagovailoa brought from the University of Alabama.

The bottom line, though, is that Willis is an unproven commodity, though it's clear that Sullivan and Hafley were impressed enough by what they saw on a daily basis in Green Bay the past two seasons to make this commitment to him.

When he starts the 2026 season opener, which basically is a certainty unless he's injured, Willis will become the 10th different opening-day starter for the Dolphins since Dan Marino retired in March 2000, following Jay Fiedler (2000-04), Gus Frerotte (2005), Daunte Culpepper (2006), Trent Green (2007), Chad Pennington (2008-09), Chad Henne (2010-11), Ryan Tannehill (2012-16, 2018), Jay Cutler (2017), Ryan Fitzpatrick (2019-20) and Tagovailoa (2021-25).

The question is whether Willis can become the one to deliver (at some point) that elusive playoff win.