Dolphins land their coveted quarterback hours after Tua Tagovailoa release

On Monday morning, the Miami Dolphins released Tua Tagovailoa. That move had been coming for months. It took only a couple of hours for Jon-Eric Sullivan to find his replacement.

It has been announced that the Dolphins went all-in on their next quarterback. Malik Willis is heading to South Florida.

Miami Dolphins stick with familiar Malik Willis with the hopes of turning around the franchise

To be honest, no one actually thought the Dolphins would land Willis. While it was clear Sullivan and Hafley had interest, the noise around the league pointed to other teams having more money to spend. Apparently, Miami didn't need to outbid anyone.

The move to Miami is great. Willis has shown his ability to improve. After a disastrous start to his NFL career, Willis settled into his role with the Packers. Despite having only a few starts as the Packers' QB, Willis showed a lot of poise when his number was called.

It gives Miami the chance to stay respectable on offense in year one of the Hafley-Sullivan regime, and for a price that is reasonable even for a team with major cap issues. No team was going to have more intel on the kind of player Willis really is, and I would guess that played a part in his decision to sign on.

Will he be the long-term answer at QB? It's going to be an uphill battle for the young passer, especially if the Dolphins struggle to compete in 2026 like expected. If Miami ends up with a top five pick, will they really pass on a potential franchise QB if Willis plays just decent football?

It's way too early to speculate on that, but it's a real thing that the team needs to think about. It's likely that the contract is structured in a way where moving on won't be painful if things don't work out, but for now, it's the Willis show in Miami.