The Miami Dolphins' new dynamic duo of head coach Jeff Hafley and GM Jon-Eric Sullivan hail from the Green Bay Packers organization. Haters will say they're already cultivating an insular type of decision-making climate in South Beach.
But why be pessimistic? It's much too early for that. The Dolphins have a multi-year rebuild ahead. They shouldn't be good for quite a long while. That is, unless the ex-Packers quarterback Sullivan and Hafley brought aboard this offseason, Malik Willis, crushes expectations and elevates an inexperienced roster.
Willis had some elite flashes in his limited action for the Cheeseheads. He was the best free-agent QB on the market, yet with Miami's self-inflicted salary cap woes, it wasn't a total slam dunk that he'd reunite with Sullivan and Hafley.
It could be perceived from the outside that Hafley and Sullivan took a shortcut by just seeking out someone they were familiar with. According to Hafley, that was far from the case.
Jeff Hafley affirms the Miami Dolphins' new regime was in lockstep the whole way on signing Malik Willis
In an interview with Dan Le Batard, Hafley spoke about the extensive dialogue he had with Sullivan about the merits of acquiring Willis in free agency. Although Hafley acknowledged he and Sullivan have their disagreements on players, such as draft prospects, they were fully on the same page about their new franchise QB hopeful.
And no, it wasn't some half-baked, lazy decision to bring Willis aboard since they'd all spent years together in Green Bay.
"This wasn't just like, oh, we were with Malik for two years, let's go sign him. No, we spent hours talking about it: Is this the path we want to go? Why? Let's turn the film back on. Let's talk about him as a person. Let's go back to conversations we had, and let's think about practice. ‘Jeff, what do you think about him at practice? What did you think about this?’ So it was constant conversation, and then what fits our team and we did agree on that one. And that's why we wanted to go after him."
Dolphins HC Jeff Hafley and GM Jon-Eric Sullivan were 'in lockstep the entire way' on Malik Willis being the future at quarterback for the Miami Dolphins @MiamiDolphins
— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) April 15, 2026
New South Beach Sessions with Dolphins HC Jeff Hafley out tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/1ixQV34JiH
Hafley also communicated that he couldn't care less about who gets the credit for the Dolphins' turnaround, and won't hesitate to praise the assistants on his coaching staff. He just wants to win, and he and Sullivan were fully convinced that a three-year contract for Willis was their clearest path forward in the wake of the Tua Tagovailoa dead money disaster.
Much of Willis' fate will be determined by how well Sullivan can stock the roster with talent (and quickly) and how well Hafley and his staff can develop those young players. It's not exactly an easy situation the 26-year-old field general is jumping into for his first proper crack at a starting QB gig.
The Dolphins would do well to capitalize on a rather deep pool of incoming rookie talent at tight end and wide receiver on the first two days of the draft. That'd at least give Willis some hope of thriving during the 2026 campaign.
But apparently, regardless of how long it takes Miami to turn this ship around, Hafley and Sullivan went back and forth ad nauseam about Willis. They concluded he was worthy of being the chief torchbearer of the Fins' new era, and that he's made of the right stuff to weather what should be a stormy stretch before the wins begin to pile up.
Add us as a preferred source on Google