Weaver Interviews, Another GM Candidate, Players Signed for 2026

The Miami Dolphins continue their search for a new general manager

Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver leaves the field after a game between the Miami Dolphins and the Los Angeles Chargers at Hard Rock Stadium in Week 6. | Rich Storry-Imagn Images

The NFL head coach hiring cycle is in full swing, and for a second consecutive offseason Anthony Weaver is getting phone calls.

Weaver will be getting interviews for the openings for the Atlanta Falcons and Arizona Cardinals, per multiple reports, as those teams look for a replacement for Raheem Morris and Jonathan Gannon, respectively. Interestingly, both those coaches also had a defensive background like Weaver.

There currently are six head coach openings around the NFL, the others being with the New York Giants, Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns and Las Vegas Raiders.

Weaver, you may recall, was a finalist for the New Orleans Saints job last offseason before Kellen Moore was hired — and this could pay big dividends for the Dolphins.

If Weaver were to be hired as a head coach this offseason, the Dolphins would get two third-round compensatory picks as part of the Rooney Rule, those picks split over the next two seasons. The Dolphins would not have been eligible for the comp picks because the rule requires a minority coach to have been with an organization at least two seasons.

NEW GM CANDIDATE EMERGES

An eighth GM candidate has been identified, that being L.A. Chargers assistant GM Chad Alexander.

He joins Jon-Eric Sullivan of the Green Bay Packers, John McKay of the L.A. Rams, Alec Halaby of the Philadelphia Eagles, and three members of the San Francisco 49ers — R.J. Gillen, Josh Williams and Tariq Ahmad — along with interim GM Champ Kelly.

Alexander is the son of former Dallas Cowboys and University of Miami wide receivers coach Hubbard Alexander. Alexander joined the Chargers after spending five seasons with the New York Jets, though he spent the most time in his NFL career with the Baltimore Ravens, an organization well known for its outstanding front office.

The Dolphins are conducting interviews via Zoom this week, with their second round of interviews likely to be in person.

PLAYERS SIGNED FOR 2026

Though they're in the middle of a GM search, the business of football continues, so it was that the Dolphins signed six players Tuesday to reserve/future contracts.

Those six players ended the season on the Miami practice squad: WR AJ Henning, DT Alex Huntley, LB Derrick McLendon, LB K.C. Ossai, OL Josh Priebe and OL Kion Smith.

The most familiar name there is Smith, who began the season on the active roster and started two games at right guard before he was waived and re-signed to the practice squad.

McLendon and Priebe each made his NFL debut in the final month of the regular season, while Henning and Huntley never were elevated from the practice squad after being waived as a rookie free agents.

It's the second consecutive year that McLendon has signed a future contract with Miami. He was part of a class of 12 future signings in 2025 and though none of them made the initial 53-man roster, four wound up playing in a regular season game — Jordan Colbert, Isaiah Johnson, Hayden Rucci and McLendon.

On the topic of the practice squad, we should note that Bayron Matos, who was on the practice squad in 2024 as an International Pathway Player Program member from the Dominican Republic, signed a reserve/future contract with the Indianapolis Colts.