Miami Dolphins fans don't know what to expect from new GM Jon-Eric Sullivan. Will he be a guy who builds his team from the outside or the inside? Will he tolerate players with "me-first" attitudes or ship them out?
Fans don't have to look far to get an idea of what Sullivan believes. The Packers' core values and ideals will be brought to South Florida through Sullivan. The Dolphins have not paraded their new GM in front of reporters just yet, but he did sit down for a one-on-one interview. He is saying everything Chris Grier said, but unlike his predecessor, Sullivan has history to back his ideals.
Culture is everything.
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) January 17, 2026
Exclusive sit down interview with GM Jon-Eric Sullivan dropping tomorrow 🎥 pic.twitter.com/jslPORrhHZ
Miami Dolphins fans shouldn't expect a lot of free agency action with Jon-Eric Sullivan at the helm
Throughout Grier's tenure as the Dolphins' GM, it was never clear what their roster-building plans were. Grier said in his opening press conference as the team's GM that they would build through the draft, but they didn't. They would fix the offensive line; they didn't. Grier failed at his job because, no matter what he believed, he ultimately did the opposite.
Part of that problem was Grier's inability to identify problems and fix them through the draft. That's not to say he didn't try. He did, and more often than not, he failed. Because of this, he often turned to free agency to find a solution. That, too, more often than not, did not work out well either.
Free agency brings more than just a culturally outside way of thinking, as Sullivan points out; it also typically comes with a higher price tag that can negatively impact a team's salary cap. Something else Grier was bad at.
If Sullivan is going to build a winner in Miami, he will need to do what Grier did not: identify good football players with a drive that is conducive to the core values of the team. Not just players that fill a hole.
The job isn't going to be easy, and fans shouldn't expect a turnaround in year one. Miami is at least two years away from realistically competing in the AFC East, let alone the AFC in general.