How Hafley Explained the Allure of Malik Willis

The NFL’s annual league meeting is taking place in Phoenix Arizona this week, which gives the media an opportunity to speak with the coaches who are in attendance.

One of those coaches, was the new head man for the Miami Dolphins, Jeff Hafley. Hafley took over in Miami this offseason and is working toward building a foundation in his first year as the man in charge.

Hafley joined Kay Adams of her show Up and Adams to discuss a variety of topics, including his new quarterback and how they are going to surround him with talent to try to compete in the near future.

What’s With Willis?

One thing seems clear about Miami’s acquisition of their new quarterback, Malik Willis. The team loves him. Hafley came from Green Bay, where Willis resurrected his career after being traded for a conditional seventh-round pick when he fell out of favor in Tennessee.

Willis was heavily targeted by Miami this offseason and ultimately signed with the Dolphins to be their quarterback of the present, with a chance to establish himself as the long-term starter.

As Hafley talked to Adams on her show, it was clear that he was thrilled to bring Willis with him from Green Bay.

“It was fun being with him for two years, we got really close,” Hafley said.

“He’s one of the best guys ever. He’s a great teammate, unbelievable in the community and he’s an unbelievable player. You saw him in the games he came in.”

While being a great teammate and working well in the community, the Dolphins signed Willis because they believe he can become a top-tier starting quarterback in the NFL. Hafley was quick to explain why.

“He’s exciting to watch he’s really confident and nothing wavers the guy, he’s super athletic he’s big too,” Hafley said.

"He’s 225 pounds jacked up and can run, but people aren’t giving him enough credit for how accurate he is especially down the field. He can throw the football he can throw it from the pocket, he can throw it really accurate down the field. He just hasn’t played a lot, he’s only 25 years old, some of these guys in the draft are older than him. It’s like getting a young quarterback who we know and we have a great relationship with, we just have to get him experience and have him develop over time."

Receiver Room?

Of course a quarterback cannot throw the ball to himself, which is why there was some surprise around the national media when it was announced the Dolphins were trading Jaylen Waddle to the Denver Broncos for draft compensation.

When Willis was signed, Waddle was set to be the team’s top receiver. Waddle at least gave Willis someone he could rely on who has had success in the NFL. Waddle led the Dolphins in receiving with 910 yards and six touchdowns on 100 targets in 2025.

Waddle has three 1,000-yard seasons to his name, as he topped that mark in each of his first three seasons in Miami.

That production is out the door, and the Dolphins do not have a plethora of receivers ready to replace Waddle.

If the season began tomorrow, the Dolphins would be starting some combination of Tutu Atwell, Malik Washington, Jalen Tolbert and Terrace Marshall Jr. at receiver.

That’s not exactly Tyreek Hill lining up across from Waddle, and likely does not strike fear in many opposing defenses.

The good news on this front? Hafley alluded to the possibility that his team would be adding a player or two to the receiver room to try to surround their quarterback with weapons.

“We’ve got a bunch of good guys coming back, a bunch of guys that we signed, and we’ve got a bunch of draft picks, seven in the first 100 picks," Hafley told Adams. "We’ll have receivers for Malik to throw to.”

Hafley is right, the Dolphins are armed with plenty of ammo to potentially add a receiver or two with a top 100 pick. The Dolphins pick twice in the first round with pick 11 and pick 30 at their disposal.

Could they target someone like Ohio State’s Carnell Tate or USC’s Makai Lemon? Those are possibilities with the Dolphins’ first pick. If they choose to go elsewhere, there are a plethora of options at the end of the first round, or in the subsequent rounds of the draft.

General Manager Jon-Eric Sullivan comes from Green Bay where they had not drafted a receiver in the first round between 2002 and 2025 before taking Matthew Golden in the first round a year ago.

They had plenty of success in the later rounds, with guys like Greg Jennings, Davante Adams, Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb all being picked in the second round.

If nothing else, Hafley’s comments signal a willingness and understanding the receiver room needs to get better to help their new quarterback.

The Conversation

When Willis signed in Miami, Waddle was still under contract with Miami and thought to be in the plans for 2026. Instead, Waddle was traded less than two weeks after Willis signed, and the national media began to wonder if Willis would be upset that he signed with a team who immediately traded his best weapon.

As it turns out, GM Jon-Eric Sullivan discussed the situation with Willis in the interest of transparency.

“I'm not gonna ever make it a habit to call and feel like I need to explain myself to players in the locker room for the moves that I'm gonna make," Sullivan said to a group of South Florida reporters who traveled to Arizona for the owners meetings, per Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post.

"That's not how this position works. I think they would respect me less if I did. I'm gonna do what I think is right for the Miami Dolphins, not what a player or players want me to do. What I will tell you is I have a tremendous amount of respect for Malik. I wanted to make sure he was comfortable. I did not want him to feel like he was being tricked. And so we had a conversation. The details of that, I'll keep to myself. But I felt like because of the timing of everything, I owed him a conversation because he was just walking through the door and that's how that played out."