The Miami Dolphins could look like a completely different team by the start of the 2026 season. With questions surrounding Tua Tagovailoa's future, fans have to wonder if the keys will be handed to Quinn Ewers.
Much of this offseason focus will be on getting the salary cap situation cleared up. If Tagovailoa leaves, it could look a lot uglier than it is now. Still, the Dolphins have to find a way to keep key players that simply are too good to let walk. Jon-Eric Sullivan, the team's new GM, will have a lot of work to do in the coming weeks and months.
We often hear the term continuity when discussing a coaching staff, but it isn't different when you have players who make a team function better. A roster that has too many holes can't afford to lose good players and expect to win.
The Miami Dolphins can't afford to let these key contributors leave in 2026
Greg Dulcich
Fans continue to hear his name mentioned often. On social media, he gets fans excited, fan pages, and mainstream media hype him as well. It's all warranted and deserved. Dulcich is giving the Dolphins something that even Darren Waller couldn't. Consistency.
Dulcich isn't a top NFL tight end, but his growth has been incredible this season, and it can't be overlooked. As a free agent, he won't cost much, but if he hits the open market, he may have turned enough heads around the NFL to get offers the Dolphins may have been able to avoid. It's best to sign him before free agency begins.
Rasul Douglas
If you can't look at Douglas and see a baller, not sure what to tell you except, he is. Douglas has been a bright surprise in the secondary, and it is hard to believe he wasn't on the team until a week before the season started. The Dolphins CB room is a mess. Keeping Douglas another year stabilizes them until it gives the team options.
Miami still has to address the position in free agency, maybe the draft as well. If they get Douglas back on the roster, they can afford a little hesitation with others. Like Dulcich, it's better to get him signed early.
Daniel Brunskill
The Dolphins' decision to keep him on the sidelines earlier in the season was a mistake. Once they slid him outside as an extra lineman, things started to click. If the Dolphins can learn anything from his play in 2025, it's that he deserves a shot to compete for a starting job.
Brunskill wasn't starting because the Dolphins opted to start rookie Jonah Savaiinaea all year. The hopes of building him into a legit starter failed, but letting Brunskill walk in free agency would be a mistake. Miami finally got a solid lineman to provide good depth.