When Chris Grier was let go and Mike McDaniel was fired after the 2025 season, no one knew what the future was going to hold for the Miami Dolphins quarterback room, especially Quinn Ewers.
Jon-Eric Sullivan came into the picture like a bull in a china shop. He gutted the roster, added his own type of players, got rid of the overpaid Tua Tagovailoa, and signed Malik Willis. Willis is the starting QB in Miami; don't let the talk of competition fool you.
Ewers started the final three games of last season. He looked good, but inexperienced. The job, it appeared, was his for the 2026 season. Now, his future with the Dolphins might be better than expected.
Miami Dolphins history proves Quinn Ewers has future in South Florida
The Dolphins have a great legacy of quarterback play that ended when Dan Marino retired. The team spent too much time trying to find complementary quarterbacks instead of just drafting them until they found the one that worked.
Ewers isn't going to be the starter in Miami. He probably won't be an immediate starter on any NFL team this year or next, but as a backup, Ewers can take his place among some of the Dolphins' best.
Earl Morrall was Bob Griese's backup for the 1972 perfect team. He took the field and led Miami through the entire season with Griese nursing an early-season broken leg. Morrall had backed up Johnny Unitas in Baltimore with Don Shula.
Morrall's legacy is etched in the annals of NFL history and lore. He is known for that '72 perfection, heralded by the families and players who were a part of that team.
Don Strock replaced Morrall as Griese's backup. He would provide depth behind Griese and Marino. Playing from 1974 to 1987, Strock was the backup Miami knew they needed. A guy who could start a few games if he had to, just 20 in 14 years. But he was efficient, consistent, and great at his job.
Scott Mitchell was the next in line, the guy who would replace Scott Secules, who backed up Marino for three seasons. Mitchell only played three years in Miami as well, but in 1993, he turned Marino's Achilles injury into a 7-game showcase that landed him a free agent contract and starting job with the Lions. Mitchell made more money, but the Lions had only two winning seasons during the five years he was there.
Bernie Kosar returned to South Florida and made another immediate impact on the Dolphins. Not only was he the next in a long line of capable backups, but the QB drew up the "Fake Spike" play that netted the Dolphins a victory over the Jets. In three seasons, he started just two games, but he was a reliable and trusted number two QB.
It all began to fall apart after Kosar left. Miami went through names like Damon Huard, Ray Lucas, and so on, but in 2011, the Dolphins signed Matt Moore, who would spend the next seven seasons with the Dolphins. He would balance the scales and give the Dolphins their first viable backup quarterback in 16 seasons.
Moore was fantastic when he was called upon. He should have been handed the starting job to see if he could handle it, but as a backup, the Dolphins couldn't have asked for more. Then, in 2017, Moore was gone, and the Dolphins were left looking for both a starter and a backup.
Miami's search for a legitimate starting quarterback has been discussed and regurgitated for more than two decades, but lost in all of it has been Miami's inability to find a suitable backup quarterback that can be relied upon after decades of being able to do so.
Quinn Ewers can be that guy. The Dolphins will likely, or at least should, draft a QB in round one next year, the franchise quarterback to be. That would imply Malik Willis' future beyond this contract would be in doubt. Ewers can serve the next two seasons as the backup, and when Willis is gone, the draft pick takes over. The Dolphins have the consistent number two that they had during some of their best seasons.
Ewers may never become the full-time starter for Miami, but his career doesn't have to be defined by that, as others before him have proved; you can carve out long stretches in the NFL, providing quality depth at a position that teams covet.
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