When the Dolphins opted to ink Green Bay Packers quarterback Malik Willis in free agency, everyone knew Miami was taking a risk. A calculated risk, but a risk nonetheless. By now, it's seared into memory that the signal-caller has only started six games and attempted 155 passes as a professional. In 2025, his performance was as impressive as it was brief. Therein lies the temptation that ultimately hooked the Dolphins.
The Willis paradox is much like deciding to watch a movie in theaters after seeing an intriguing preview. We're given only a tiny glimpse to entice us to part with our money for a ticket. The only difference is that instead of a riskless $15 wager, Miami had to agree to a three-year, $67.5 million pact to get him in the building.
On Tuesday, The Athletic's Mike Sando released the publication's annual quarterback tier list. In the ranking, 35 quarterbacks were placed into tiers between one and five by a panel of 50 NFL coaches and executives. Tier one was reserved for the league's best, while tier five was described as "not a starter, period." The panel's votes were then tabulated to formulate a consensus.
Miami Dolphins fans can rest easy knowing that Malik Willis is a gamble worth taking — even in the eyes of rival executives and coaches
Willis wound up placing 29th on the list, two spots behind Miami's 2025 starter, Tua Tagovailoa. The ranking comes with a caveat, though. Willis' average ranking of 3.66 indicates that most voters saw him somewhere between tier 3 (legit starter) and tier 4 (unproven player), a designation few could take issue with at this juncture.
Some of the anonymous quotes provided by Sando further contextualized the perception Willis has around the league. One executive said: "He’s got some energy, some bounce to him as a passer and runner. Out of this year’s [veteran] QB class, he’s the one guy where you said, OK, if we sign him, we give him a couple years, he could maybe ascend to that [tier] 2 level.”
Another executive, this one a general manager, opined: “I love Malik Willis. They are committing to him. I just feel like Year 1 has the potential to be rough just because they are building out the infrastructure around him.”
What's perhaps the most exciting part of the entire exercise for Dolphins fans was this observation from Sando himself: "Willis is the lowest-ranked QB without a Tier 5 vote. No one is writing him off as a starter at this early stage, in other words."
It's beyond clear that few, if any, in the NFL stratosphere found the pursuit of Willis to be an outlandish or reckless one. If the Dolphins had overpaid or done something unbelievable, the panel would have zero issue saying so. One only needs to see what they had to say about Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and J.J. McCarthy to realize no punches were being pulled.
As training camp continues to run its course, fans can be relieved that the wait is finally over. For months, we've all been inundated with the talk that Willis' resume is too scant to draw any conclusions. While true, there's no use beating a dead horse. In due time, the picture will begin to develop right before our very eyes.
Miami kicks off its preseason on August 14 against the Washington Commanders. Whether Willis is a major participant remains to be seen, but once the regular season kicks off on September 13 against the Las Vegas Raiders, the gloves will be off. The mystery surrounding Malik Willis will fade for better or worse when live bullets are flying — and fans wouldn't have it any other way.
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