Out with the old and in with the new. That phrase perfectly encapsulates Miami Dolphins football in 2026. After another in a seemingly endless parade of futile seasons, owner Stephen Ross did what many thought the 86-year-old was too afraid to do: embrace change. Chris Grier, the team's general manager from 2016 to 2025, was finally relieved of his duties.
Despite the familiarity Ross had grown accustomed to, Grier's tenure in a variety of roles (2000–2025) notably matched up perfectly with the Dolphins' playoff win drought. It was time. Something that should inspire even more confidence is the fact that Ross showed longtime co-directors of player personnel, Adam Engroff and Anthony Hunt, the door, as well. In the most controversial of his decisions, he decided to start fresh with a new head coach, firing Mike McDaniel.
Just like that, Dolphins fans had gotten their wish: a completely new regime that was not attached to failures of days gone by. It started with the hiring of former Green Bay Packers executive Jon-Eric Sullivan as the team's new general manager. Sullivan immediately got to work finding the head coach he would hitch his wagon to, ultimately landing on the most predictable candidate, former Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley.
As these two men set out to build the Miami Dolphins from scratch, Sullivan moved quickly to assemble his team of scouts and evaluators that he would rely on going forward. Among his first hires was former Atlanta Falcons assistant general manager Kyle Smith. Smith was let go, along with Falcons GM Terry Fontenot, following the 2025 season, and Sullivan wasted no time bringing him on board.
Just as quickly as he arrived in Miami, Smith may be departing. According to NFL Media's Tom Pelissero, the Minnesota Vikings have requested an interview with Smith for their vacant general manager position.
If other teams are already poking around the Miami Dolphins staff, things might just be trending upward
It's hard to remember the last time a Miami Dolphins executive was interviewed for a job that would be a promotion elsewhere. The fact that Miami's new assistant general manager, who has been on the job roughly four months, is even under consideration puts the impressive reputation boasted by the new regime on full display.
While it would be quite the stretch to say what Smith has done with the Dolphins thus far led to the development, it nonetheless speaks to the respect he already had around the league before joining Miami. In fact, back at the NFL Scouting Combine, Jon-Eric Sullivan praised Smith and fellow front office hire Jon Robinson in glowing terms, with a claim that could prove prescient in the coming weeks.
"Kyle Smith and Jon Robinson for me will be tremendous resources," Sullivan said. "Obviously with 'J. Rob' (Jon Robinson), he's sat in this chair before. He will be a tremendous sounding board for me. He understands what's ahead, the pitfalls. The way that I looked at it when I was piecing this together is, I'm obviously the current GM, Jon Robinson has been a GM, Kyle (Smith) will be a GM; so I thought all of us together would be a pretty good team."
While it would be less than ideal for Miami's top executive to lose his right-hand man only a few months into the job, it would represent a tangible piece of evidence that the tide is turning in South Florida. After a quarter century of mediocrity, fans cannot be hopeful enough.
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