Chris Simms gives highest praise to Dolphins' top free agent target

It isn't some state secret that the Miami Dolphins are trying to upgrade at quarterback over Tua Tagovailoa. The most straightforward place to find a viable successor is the free-agent market.

Given the dearth of top-flight quarterback prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft and the likely cooling of the trade market as a result, Miami doesn't have many paths forward. Certainly not anyone who can compete with the likes of Josh Allen or Drake Maye in the AFC East.

That is, unless ex-Packers in GM Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley can convince a certain Green Bay QB to join them. Or so prominent NBC analyst Chris Simms believes.

Chris Simms couldn't be more bullish on potential Miami Dolphins QB of the future

Malik Willis has connections to other QB-needy teams — the Arizona Cardinals in particular — but the presumptive leader in the clubhouse to acquire him this offseason is the Dolphins' new regime.

NBC's Chris Simms played big-time college football at Texas. His father was a star quarterback in the NFL. Simms made it to the league himself as a third-round pick. The man knows his stuff pretty well, even if some believe his annual QB draft rankings appear outlandish on the surface. Or they just won't let go of the fact that he had Zach Wilson as the infamous 2021 class' QB1.

But credit where it's due, Simms has gotten a lot right over the years. Having Willis as the best QB prospect from the 2022 draft over Kenny Pickett is a big winner. But in an interview with Dan Patrick, Simms went far further than that despite Willis' limited sample size of professional starts:

"I think Malik Willis is a superstar. […] Malik Willis has proven he’s got special talent. He has a special arm. He’s got special mobility. He knows how to run the offense and do all of that…he’s a great story."

After proceeding to throw serious shade at Pickett, expressing disgust about the dialogue surrounding him and how "good he is in the meeting room," Simms served up an even spicier Willis take in comparing him to Jordan Love:

"It’s closer than I ever thought it would be. I’m really a Jordan Love fan. I’m the one [who said] Jordan Love's gonna be better than Tua when he was coming out in the draft. ... [Willis] shows more *potential* to be a greater player than Jordan Love. That’s what I would say right now. But I gotta see a little bit more before I say he’s *better* than Jordan Love."

And look, I've said since the moment Sullivan was hired as Dolphins GM that signing Willis is a no-brainer. He had a 78.7% completion rate, zero interceptions, and a 134.6 passer rating the last two seasons in Green Bay. Plus, Willis can run as well as any QB in the NFL.

Hence why Simms already views Willis as a superstar. Those numbers right there hint at that kind of ceiling.

Now that he's had ample time to develop and demonstrate high-end starter ability, Willis is the one roll of the dice in free agency who can save the Dolphins from a multi-year rebuild mired in NFL irrelevancy. Or so Simms' impassioned words would imply.