The Miami Dolphins' new brain trust has been a breath of fresh air. Although former head coach Mike McDaniel's firing was met with mixed reactions, you'd be hard-pressed to find a single fan who didn't think it was time for the Dolphins to move on from former general manager Chris Grier. After two decades with the organization — that just so happened to coincide with the team's playoff-win drought — the Dolphins are embracing a new direction.
In a league where accountability is such a prevalent theme, Grier was not held accountable for his gaffes for far too long. What's more, he was rightfully criticized for a variety of his roster-building tactics, including the ironic habit of not holding the franchise's highest-paid players responsible when it came to underperformance.
Dolphins fans can rest easy knowing those days are in the rearview mirror. Appearing on This Is Football with ESPN's Kevin Clark, new Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan was asked about his tenets of roster building. Among his answers was a clear indication that the status quo in Miami is no more:
"I think when you come through the door you've got to look at your veteran players ... whose compensation outweighs their production on the field. And you've got to get that fixed or you've got to walk away."
Jon-Eric Sullivan's latest comments help illustrate the culture change coming for the Miami Dolphins
When Sullivan says it, you know he means it. A quick look at his first months on the job gives you tangible evidence to draw from. Case in point: he opted for the nuclear option of taking a record $99 million dead cap hit to release Tua Tagovailoa. Not only is that a mind-boggling figure, but it also tells you what he and Jeff Hafley think of the former Dolphins quarterback.
Other players like Tyreek Hill, Bradley Chubb, and Minkah Fitzpatrick are a little more nuanced. While none of these players were liabilities to the level of Tagovailoa in 2025, their combinations of age, injury status, and salary made them expendable. Sullivan added them to the discard pile with the quickness of a De'Von Achane juke move.
Football should always be a meritocracy, and by all appearances, that is the route the Dolphins are heading down. It's no mistake that the veteran survivors of Jon-Eric Sullivan's roster purge (Aaron Brewer, Jordyn Brooks, Greg Dulcich, Zach Sieler) are still on the roster. Each of these players stood out on an otherwise mediocre Dolphins team that accomplished a big, fat nothing-burger in 2025.
It's really the only way for an organization to be run. The days of perennial underachievers (and the oft-injured) taking up valuable cap space and roster spots seem to be over. Football's a violent sport where injuries are a guarantee. A player who finds himself missing chunks of games year after year, particularly at an exorbitant salary, needs to be addressed.
Sullivan went so far as to give Dolphins fans an idea of one way he will approach these matters going forward. Offensive tackle Austin Jackson is now one of the longest-tenured Dolphins. After playing in 14 out of a possible 34 games in the last two seasons, however, his contract was not commensurate with the production the Dolphins were receiving.
Sullivan approached him about a revised contract with a pay cut, which he accepted. Now, Sullivan has provided the still unbelievably young (26 years old) Jackson with an opportunity to make a good impression on the new staff. If he's unable to piece together a healthy season, he'll likely be gone next year, too.
This is how competent teams do business. While I am far from crowning the Dolphins the league's new gold standard, there is reason for optimism going forward. The days of rewarding a malcontent with an unearned contract extension (cough Jalen Ramsey cough) or allowing the team's highest-paid players (Tua Tagovailoa) to get away with middling play for far too long seem to be a relic of the past, and for that alone, fans should be excited.