The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

I see fans arguing this all over the place. In my opinion, we have to get rid of him and start anew. He would be too much of a distraction so even if we have to pay most of his salary, we need to ship him off or cut him outright. Maybe not on purpose but players choose sides, as well as fans and coaches. We don't need any more drama on this team for quite a while.

This may sound cold, but on the monetary side it's probably best that Miami keeps him for the 2026 season and never lets him see the field (so if there is something like a rumored $20M injury clause, it's never triggered). Then cut him before the 2027 season.

Tua's going to get paid regardless, but if the team is better off to the tune of something like $45M keeping him on the list, it's better than letting him go.

He gamed us and got overpaid. Everyone knows the score. If Tua doesn't like it and tries to be a distraction, he can be locked out of the building, told to piss off and count his money. If that means his career is effectively over, too bad.

Tua is not the type of guy who would become a locker room cancer if something like that were to happen.   Making him the #2 QB is probably the smart thing to do.

I don't think he would either, but I think it is natural for people to pick sides. If he is not there, that doesn't ever become an issue. He is a polarizing person in general. Just read any fan site's Facebook posts and you will see people who still think he was given a raw deal fighting against people who have given up on him. The same thing would most likely happen in the locker room.

I think that if you can unload him, you do.  I don't think it's good for a team to have the previous star QB riding the bench until he is eventually cut.  It keeps everyone from moving on.  It might be a financial impossibility, but if you can find someone who can use him more than we can, you facilitate that.

I think the only way a team trades for Tua is: Tua + 1st round pick for a 7th round pick to a team with a shitload of cap space.  I don't recall who but there was a trade like that a few years ago. 

I wouldn't want to trade a pick (and I don't think we'd need to) but I think we can offer to pay part of the salary.

Some team will lose their QB in the first 4 weeks of the season and a 2 year Tua contract will work for them.

HOU traded Brock Osweiler + 2nd + 6th to CLE for a 4th.  CLE cut him before the start of the season.

The Jared Goff trade to the Lions by the Rams along with multiple #1 picks for Stafford was at the time seen as a massive salary dump, as much as play to get Stafford.

As it turned out, it was a great move for both teams... although the Rams already had a lot of other key game-changers already in place, and the team was kept relatively intact by the move. They also had a pretty good recent history of drafting talent.

Miami doesn't have that luxury - we are looking at a larger rebuild, and need every quality draft pick we can get our hands on. The full $99M dead cap hit for Tua - over 1 or 2 years, it doesn't really matter - paired with the additional hit we will cop from cutting Tyreek (and what we're already carrying from Ramsey) is going to be a recipe for disaster. There will be no money to keep anyone, let alone sign anyone else.

There are many riding with "the vibe" (look up the Australian film The Castle for my reference) that we should just cut Tua and wear the full $99M cap hit (along with all the other cap hits) and tank it to rebuild again... except we just don't have the draft bounty of the Tunsil trade, or existing cap space, and enough talent depth on our existing list to deal with that.

We had all of that once upon a time ago, and Grier pissed it all away (with a good amount of assistance from McDaniel). If you wanna know who dug us this gigantic hole we're trying to climb the way out of for (at least) the next two years... those are first the two names to start with.

The thing is though... if we REALLY suck next season, the new regime may not even survive that. If we load up on dead money by cutting Tua on top of everything else, there is the the real potential of that happening. If you thought 2007 was bad, it may be only foreplay for a franchise with little existing talent PLUS no salary cap and decent draft picks to address how bad the list is.

Then it's reboot all over again in 12 months, with no clue if it will be on the way up.

Happy days (for Hoodie).  :o ::) 

If we finish at the bottom, we will likely get our franchise QB. That's a heck of a head start in the right direction even without the extra picks.

*IF* cut Tua (and anyone else who is overpaid), trade away for picks anyone with trade value, let anyone that will get you a compensatory pick walk, fill in the roster with min salary UDFA, go 0-17 and fire Jeff Hafley --- you won't be back in the same situation.  You will have a new coach, a decent salary cap situation and the first overall pick.  These are the elements that allow for a turnaround.  And its not like anyone is all that excited for Jeff Hafley.  He was a consolation prize for losing the Harbough lottery.   

He should not be on the roster in 2026 no matter how you do it. The last thing that the starter is going to need is one bad game and the fans and media clamoring to start Tua. 2026 is a rebuilding year no matter how you slice it, so you may as well let the starting QB get some experience whomever that is. Personally I think Ewers is the perfect QB for this scenario. He's had plenty of success in his career, you're not going to destroy his confidence with a bad season especially when he knows that he doesn't have the team around him to compete. He did well enough in his first 3 starts to think that with a full off season and an offense designed around his abilities he will play well enough to win some games. Let him grow into a leadership position on the team. I'm not saying he's the long term starter, but I think he can be what you need for 2026 and possibly he grows into more than that.

Miami isn't as bad as everyone thinks they are. They won 7 games last year and that was with one of the worst defenses the first half of the season. Add a few more pieces defensively. Continue to build up from the trenches. Run the ball. Stop the run. Control the clock to prevent games from getting out of hand. I think the Dolphins can win about the same number of games next year as they did this year that way. Maybe go 6-11 or 7-10 again or something along those lines. That will be fine for 2026. Then we'll see where we can go from there. We don't need Tua for that and I don't care if it will save a little bit of cash, that's not as important as getting a fresh start without him.

Tanking doesn't work.

I don't understand how people who spent a solid year screaming to Tank For Tua are still insisting that losing a bunch of games is going to solve the problem.

The NBA has a draft lottery in place to discourage tanking.   The NFL should do the same.

Tanking actually works in the NBA; you can build a dynasty around winning one draft lottery.
Tanking does not work in the NFL.

I'm not screaming it. I was just pointing out I believe the number one pick next year will be a franchise player. The Raiders will get one this year. It's been since Marino since we had one so no one knows how it would work out. I will say this ... it was more fun to lose in the playoffs scoring points than to be middle of the road where we have been for like 25 years.

With that said if our GM can't draft better than Grier it won't matter either way and our franchise QB would be asking to get out like Joe Burrow is in Cincy. Omar said today Grier has like a 30% retention rate on players drafted staying on the team and the best teams are grading out over 50%.

DET thought that going winless and drafting Matt Stafford would solve their problems.
CLE thought that winning 1 game in two years and getting Baker Mayfield would solve their problems.
ARI thought that drafting Kyler Murray would solve their problems.
NYJ thought that drafting Sam Darnold would solve their problems.

Meanwhile:
KC drafted Mahomes after a winning season.
BUF drafted Allen after a winning season.
BAL drafted Lamar after a winning season.
LAR traded for Stafford.
SEA signed Darnold in free agency.

Tanking.  Doesn't.  Work.

I'm not supporting tanking. We've been there, done that, and imploded. I'm just saying "if" we got the first pick we would likely get our franchise QB and we haven't been in that position for 25 years. What else happens after that would depend on the GM and that is the same even if we finish 8-9.

What would be different today if Miami had drafted Trevor Lawrence?  Serious question.

Tanking is purposefully losing for a better draft pick.  Miami should NOT do that. 

Prioritizing getting out of the cap space hole you are in even if that means not signing a single FA for more than the salary minimum, is not tanking.   

Impossible to answer. Lawrence was drafted by Urban Meyer which was a horrible start. He now has a good coach now and flourished last year with his best season leading Jacksonville to 13-4 and a Division Championship. He was even in both the MVP and Comeback Player of the Year Awards conversation.  Who knows what Mike could have done with him? Trevor doesn't have any of Tua's limitations in his game. He has the physical attributes that Tua never had. He can run for a first down, throw the deep ball without hanging it up in the air all day, and can also perform a QB sneak.

That's how I would play it. I'm not sure if its tanking or not.  This season is handicapped by what Grier has done. I wouldn't reach for any player I can't afford and accept whatever results we are dealt.

Lawrence also had a Super Bowl-winning head coach in the interim, and went 20-25 over those three years.

I feel like when people talk about Trevor Lawrence or Justin Herbert it's like the old days of Jeff George, where people are enamored with this amazing arm and physical talents despite ample evidence that this dude is a loser.  It is baffling that some QBs are held accountable for their records and others mysteriously are not.

    I'm in the minority... I think Tua is one of the better QB's in the league.  2 years ago, the Dolphins had the number 1 pass offense in the league.  Tua was the main factor in that.  Yes , he had great receivers, but every good offense does. I know he had a bad year for sure. And I couldn't tell you why? But he was in the MVP conversation for most of that year. So he can obviously play at an elite level. I hope they somehow keep him, but it doesn't look like they will.

It's clear that Tua has worn out his welcome in Miami.

Will he go on to do better at a later stop, like what happened to Drew Brees, Ryan Tannehill, Baker Mayfield, or Sam Darnold?  We'll see.

He had several brain injuries.
His offensive weapons and protection probably degraded a bit.
The league figured him out a bit.


I think it's a combo of these factors, plus maybe some amount of yips, not to mention that he can't/doesn't scramble anymore.

This is why Malik Willis shouldn't even be on Miami's radar. They absolutely DON'T need to go after this kid as there's going to be ample competition for his services and they absolutely cannot afford to spend money on a guy that won't impact the bottom line in any way shape or form. I don't think the Dolphins should even go after any QB in free agency. Pick one in the draft, perhaps even in the middle rounds if you want, but don't overpay for a decent QB. Perhaps Willis IS the best QB in the NFL, it won't help Miami next year and the odds are that he's not.

If the Dolphins are even thinking about going after Malik Willis, they really need to reshape their priorities.   He's been in the league four years.   At that point, there's no more "development curve", you either have it or you don't.   And he clearly doesn't.

Are you talking about Malik Willis...or Sam Darnold?

Sam Darnold just won a Super Bowl

(https://mediaproxy.tvtropes.org/width/1200/https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/facepalm_deja_q.jpg)

That's the point.

Darnold has been in the league for EIGHT years, and after his first 4 years he was clearly terrible.  But by your logic:


So why does this logic apply to Malik Willis after four years, but not Sam Darnold after four years?

I think Willis will want too much money. After his successful GB stint, there will be several teams looking to sign him and will gladly overpay him to get a QB. I don't think we are in position to get into a bidding war with someone who is a long shot. I will say this though, Coach Hafley and Sully has seen him more than anyone else in recent years. He ran the scout team against Hafley and then as a back-up so if they do, then they have full confidence in him.

Now that people are talking about Willis' asking price to be around $30M, I'd rather they bring back Tua than bring in Willis. The only way I can see the Dolphins bringing in Willis or another high priced FA QB is if Tua is traded and someone is willing to pick up the majority of his contract. If that happens, then perhaps Willis or another high priced QB would work, but barring that just draft a rookie or get a bottom of the barrel QB off the scrap heap to compete with Ewers next year.

I think I'd have to consider a team taking Tua for a 1st round draft choice, if they are going to pick up his entire contract. That would remove $99M off the books for the cost of a 1st round draft choice. That seems reasonable to me. It would suck to lose that 1st round draft choice, but the rebuild gets a lot easier without Tua's contract. 1st round draft choices are hit and miss, that $99M is a sure thing. It would essentially mean that 2026 wouldn't necessarily be a wasted year, the rebuild would start in 2026, rather than really starting in 2027. I think that's worth a 1st round pick.

What do you think?

One team considered taking Tua Tagovailoa in trade with a Miami first round pick (https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/report-one-team-considered-taking-tua-tagovailoa-in-trade-with-a-miami-first-round-pick/ar-AA1XBZzz?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=69a9f390e9d041ebbab8b134b2d6ad10&ei=19)

If another team was going to take Tua and the guaranteed $54 million he is owed, for their 1st round draft pick I would do it.  Like Pappy said draft picks can be a hit or miss.  The Jets need a QB he could go there; not to mention with the cold weather and that field in NJ he wouldn't hurt the Dolphins.

That looks like a pie-in-the-sky clickbait story at best. Has any real media run this?

I think it's a mute point anyway. If another team is going to have to carry $99M on their books the next two years, they will either want more than our current first round pick, or more likely next years first round pick with the expectation we will fully bottom out and it could easily be a top 5 pick (possible #1). Would you want to throw away the first pick in the draft when we're rebuilding from scratch?

No, it would not; MIA is still on the hook for the prorated signing bonus.  The new team would only take on his (guaranteed) annual salary for the remaining years.

First off, you have to start with the assumption that the GM will make impactful selections with first-round picks, because if that doesn't happen, none of the rest of this stuff matters; you cannot be successful if you are whiffing on first-round picks.

Second, first-round picks are able to contribute at a discounted rate for up to 5 years, making them much more valuable than one down year in 2026.  That first-round pick can be a foundational player that contributes for years to come... especially if the team is bad in 2026 and it's an early pick.

And third, the entire idea of "cap hell" being an insurmountable barrier to competitive play is overblown.  We saw this in DEN, where the Broncos cut Russell Wilson after 2023 and ate his huge contract, yet still made the playoffs in 2024, then clinched the #1 seed in 2025 with Russell Wilson as the team's highest paid player.

Possible point of difference - was Denver already carrying around $74M of dead cap money before they cut Wilson? We are, so if they weren't, our situation is understandably much worse... we're heading into the legal tampering period with just $1M of cap space on the books, so it's not exactly like we're flush with space to play with right now before any decision on Tua is made.

Also, if they chose to keep Wilson on the books (without playing him) would have they saved over $40M in cap space? That's the situation we have with Tua - it's going to be an additional cap hit of over $40M to cut him before the end of the 2026 season.

One thing we can all agree on though - Grier royally fucked us with this contract (even more than both Tyreek's and Ramsey's, which is really saying something)

If that's the case then it has nothing to do with the QB contract: Tua could still be playing at his 2023 level and that dead cap would be the same.

The only thing that would have been worse would be if he had listened to all the fans hollering to ride out Tua's 5th year option.  Imagine how much worse off the team would be if Tua had signed his new contract in summer 2025.

In hindsight, the best options would have been to either re-sign Tua at a huge discount in summer 2023 at the same time as Hurts/Herbert/Burrow, or to trade him (and Tyreek, TBH) in summer 2024 at their peak value.

Ok, it's around $70M off the books. That's still a lot of money.

Agreed, as I said losing that 1st round pick really hurts.

Hmmmm...they didn't mention if they were talking about 2026 pick or 2027 pick. I guess that would make a difference. I was basing my decision based on the 2026 1st round pick, not a potential 2027 pick. It's still not saving you $70M unless maybe it's the #1 pick in the draft.

Agreed. The situation isn't insurmountable, I'm just asking the question which do you prefer. That 1st round pick or removing that $70M albatross from your cap. It's not a slam dunk, but I would have to consider it especially if it's our 2026 pick and not 2027 1st round pick. Consider with that $70M gone you could easily go ofter Malik. Would you rather have Malik than our 2026 pick? I would definitely have to consider that.

The context of the $70M is one bad season; a bad season that, it bears mentioning, would precisely align your need for a new franchise QB with a greater chance of an early pick to select said QB.

So I'm not sure why the Dolphins would be motivated to give up a first-round pick and trade Tua just so they can... improve their record in 2026 as they plan to draft a QB in 2027.
That doesn't make sense.

Now, if your intent is to compete for the playoffs in 2026, then... I guess?  But the other offseason moves don't make sense in that context.  So if you're going to tear the team down to the studs, giving up a pick that your GM should be turning into a promising core player is at odds with that goal.

Wrong. At least in my case.

I was saying we should make him play out his 5th year, and if we weren't certain (and we shouldn't have been after 2024) then franchise tag him for a year.

The Ravens did exactly that with Jackson, and it hurt neither as he signed a fat deal after he proved himself.

Tua wouldn't have been happy about it, but then it would have saved us a lot... by my calculation, about $99M of guaranteed money which is the hole we find ourselves in right now. 

Are you kidding me?   Giving a team a first round pick to take our garbage away?   

Yeah, this is how ridiculous this whole situation has got.

Our best option is keeping Tua on our list but saying he's PUP, locking him out of the building for 12 months, and refer him to a fat farm and psychologist to get his body and head right for when we do cut him before the 2027 season.

It saves us over $40M that we would additionally have to wear from cutting him now, and ironically it does him a huge favor by giving him motivation to get himself physically and mentally ready without the risk of further concussions if he is serious about an NFL comeback. That's $40M plus we can use to address some of the many holes in this teams list, and I'll put up with the crap about it being a "potential distraction" stirred up by the media if it's still the best situation for us.

Well you can either pay for the garbage itself or pay to have it removed. Either way you are paying. It's not like if they don't pay for the garbage to be removed, it disappears all on it's own.

Then I hope we are not going to see Malik or any other substantial outlaying of salary cap for a QB, TE or any of the other FA's that Miami has been linked to. Now maybe that's all pure speculation and the Dolphins front office is exactly in line with what you are suggesting, which is to play the hand they have been dealt for 2026 and start looking for that franchise QB starting in 2027. I'm fine if that is what happens, but I'm worried they aren't going to do that. I'm worried they are going to sign high priced FA to compete with Ewers which is a huge mistake if they are just going to cut Tua in my humble opinion. Making a trade to get Tua's contract off the books makes some sense if you are going after Malik, otherwise you have to do what you just said and take a loss for 2026. Let's see if they have the balls to do it.

This is factually incorrect.  BAL attempted to extend Jackson in 2022 and he turned it down (https://www.nfl.com/news/ravens-qb-lamar-jackson-turned-down-contract-larger-than-russell-wilson-s-in-key) because he (correctly) believed he could improve his play even more.  After he won a 2nd MVP the following season,  BAL franchise tagged him and Lamar requested a trade (https://www.nfl.com/news/ravens-qb-lamar-jackson-says-he-requested-trade-on-march-2).  The resolution of this dispute was that BAL made Lamar the highest paid player in the league (with the biggest signing bonus in history).  

But importantly, Lamar did not play a single game under the franchise tag; in contrast, you're saying Tua should have played an entire season under the tag.  And there are comps for that: Dak Prescott, who the Cowboys have had to wildly overpay with this sort of last-second "but prove it again" negotiation, and Kirk Cousins, who walked for nothing and took the Vikings to the playoffs multiple times, as Washington spent the next decade back in the QB wilderness.

Dak Prescott was tagged, broke his ankle in week 5, and the Cowboys had to give him the largest signing bonus in history anyway to keep him.  Is that the kind of outcome you would prefer?  The alternative is a Kirk Cousins situation where Tua finally proves himself right before he walks out the door for nothing.

The Dolphins do not get to operate in a different QB market than everyone else.  There are fans in GB saying "We're paying Jordan Love fifty million dollars for this?" right now.  HOU is going to have to either extend Stroud at a reasonable price this offseason, "make him prove it" and break the bank next year, or watch him walk just like Baker did in Cleveland.  (The only exceptions are Josh Allen and Justin Herbert, who are somehow allowed to fail over and over and are never blamed for any of their team's problems.)

That gives him a very winnable claim at the money that is guaranteed for injury

If there is any truth to the unconfirmed rumor that Tua has an injury clause payout in his contract (to the tune of $20M), then we have to seriously consider that he is borderline un-tradeable. He probably is already, even without that extra nugget.

No team in their right mind should consider picking up any of our tab if there's that hanging over their heads with his injury history - their best option is to wait for us to cut him, and scoop him up at the veteran's minimum wage.

I'm not saying there's no chance there's a team out there that isn't stupid enough to do it, and if they did they'd probably want our top pick (if not multiple picks) to take it on. The chances have got to be pretty slim though.

Also, the PUP option was one being floated around by Omar and others as a distinct possibility of officially keeping him on our list but out of the building, saving $40M, but adding an additional space on the list in his absence.

I don't care what we do, as long as it's in the best interest of the team - and if that means taking up a list spot to save $40M, so be it. My football team would have "man conversations" where the brutal honesty came out whether you liked it or not, and maybe that's the best medicine for everyone.

Flat out tell him that he sucks to the point he's not even good enough to be a backup QB, he's a permanent third option on the list regardless of injuries, and is not in our plans to play a down in a Fins uniform again - but we can't cut him outright because his contract will cripple the team. If he respects that fine... otherwise piss off and count your money.

Apparently Tua wasn't that upset there was no mention of his birthday on the Dolphins' socials...

Omar Kelly dropped he had a huge birthday bash in the Bahamas (about 1.19 through)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wYIUK7Mr0U

He doesn't give a shit about the team, and we don't about him either.

So you know what, fuck it. Tell him he's gonna earn $55M next year either on the sidelines holding a clipboard, or doing his own thing getting ready for another team in 2027.

According to Joe Rose, we're cutting Tua right now and we're wearing the $99M cap hit over two years (as a post June 1st cut, which will have to go with a cut of Chubb the same day)

With the news today that he's been cut... he was genuinely un-tradable. As anyone with a clue knew before the end of least season.

Tom Grossi's take. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh3OPcjn-qM

thus ending what is quite possibly the dumbest series of front office decisions in the history of football

tanking for tua...wasted draft pick... and then doubling down with the worse contract extension ever...

Add the Minkah deals on top of that gigantic brown emoji

(https://images-prod.dazeddigital.com/1000/azure/dazed-prod/1120/0/1120288.jpg)

Yeah, didn't think they had the balls to do it. Signing Malik is a big time gamble. If it pays off it will have been worth it, but if not in 3 years Miami is right back where they are at now and we are all saying this whole thing was a complete waste of time. Basically they have put all their eggs in Malik Willis' basket. I would have preferred they took the long term approach and just started from the ground up to build the roster and then tried to find their future QB in the draft somewhere along the way, but that would have been a 3 year process and I didn't think Ross nor the new front office were willing to do that. At best Willis is a stop gap in my humble opinion.

Maybe we are due for some luck? One can always dream.

$20M/yr for a QB is almost the floor for any veteran.
Running Ewers out there is basically trying to go winless.  When you have a 3rd-day-draft QB that gets it it is apparent immediately; see Tom Brady or Brock Purdy.
Ewers ain't it.

No, but now you still have Tua's $99M cap hit on the books over the next 2years and have no team around Willis. Even if Willis is a top 5 QB in the league the next 2 years, he'll have no team around him and we'll have 7 or 8 wins and going nowhere fast. I would have rather seen Ewers in there and go 4-13 or something and draft your QB next year where you get a salary break for 4 years on your QB. You could build a roster around a guy like that. All of that just went up in smoke. I'm sorry but I don't have any faith that Willis is taking this team to a Superbowl in the next 5-10 years even with a much improved roster. Ewers wasn't either, but at least you were spending nothing on him. That $45 million on top of Tua's contract for a guy that's just as unproven as Ewers is not the answer I was looking for either.

Again, I hope and pray I'm wrong, but I've been hoping and praying I'm wrong since Tua was drafted and honestly it feels like that's what the Dolphins new front office is doing, hoping and praying.

I've told you before.   Ross is a clown owner.   You ask him to make you a cup of coffee and he'll find a way to fuck it up.

Atlanta just signed a veteran QB with considerably more experience than Malik for the league min salary.  ($1.215 million)

With Ewers, MIA is flirting with going winless.  Willis is at least better than that.

Technically Willis is a "veteran", but 6 starts does not qualify him to get veteran QB money.  He's not worth half that!

That would be horrible. Hopefully we go 8-9 and get to draft in the middle of the field again. Worse yet ... we will likely win 5-6 games and just be out of the top QB selection.

lol, I've looked at Miami's 2026 schedule and I see two wins; the Raiders and a split of the Jets games.  Maybe a 3rd win if they catch a game where the other team plays terrible.  Miami will be in an optimal spot to draft a QB, but just like Grier the new GB office duo will say Willis deserves another season.   Miami history just repeats itself.

Don't discount the Raiders just yet.   They traded Maxx Crosby and picked up Baltimore's first this year and next.   That gives them three of the first 35 selections in the draft. Then they signed Tyler Linderblum to anchor their O-Line.   They take Mendoza and #1 and a stud left tackle at #14, then a guy like Omar Cooper in the second round, they could become a playoff team next year.   

Tom Brady is running the show there now.   He knows how to build a winner.  He has seen it done many times.

Ewers wasn't costing us $60M against the cap. Willis better be a HELL of a lot better than just better than Ewers. If he's just better than Ewers, he's not worth it, not even close. He'd have to be top 5 in the league in 2 years for this to make sense. We had to gut the roster to make room for him and we're not done yet, they are going to have to make some more roster moves to fit him on the roster and that's carrying both Chubb and Tua's contracts over to next year. Prepare to see extensions for a number of players. You didn't have to do that with Ewers at QB. I'm not looking at just the QB position, I'm looking at the entire roster and the salary cap and saying this move doesn't make sense.

That is my thinking.  Willis > Ewers probably.  Ewers plus 22 million invested in improving the online >>>>>> Willis.  Dolphins could go winless, but that is because the entire team is is decimated.  QB position was not the weakest link, you improve the team by improving the weakest link.  The Dolphins improved the a position of relative strength. 

If only the Dolphins truly stunk it up and got the #1 pick to use on drafting a QB!
Then they might have a chance at all the championships that Cam Ward, Caleb Williams, Bryce Young, Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow, Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff, Jameis Winston, Andrew Luck, Cam Newton, Sam Bradford, Matt Stafford, JaMarcus Russell, Alex Smith, Eli Manning, Carson Palmer, David Carr, and Michael Vick have brought this century to the teams that drafted them.

Having a higher pick doesn't guarantee a better player.  But in general the better players get picked earlier.  The Dolphins should try to improve their team.  But QB wasn't the biggest hole.  And any improvement should be done with the mindset of not just winning an extra game or two in 2026 but what will make the team better in 2027 and 2028. 

Willis is a project player.  He might work out, he might not.  No real difference between him and Ewers.  But if Willis doesn't work out you wasted $45 million a better plan would have been to use a second day pick on a QB and let him compete with Ewers for the job.  If neither work out use a top 5 pick in the 2027 draft on a QB. 

Also by paying Willis all this money you virtually eliminate any chance of discovering Ewers or a late round pick is actually any good.  There won't be a real camp competition. Unless another guy is miles ahead of Willis, Willis is going to get the job.  If you had Ewers, a third round pick and two UDFAs you could real competition and potentially find a diamond in the rough. 

Plus you need to fix the oline before investing in a QB, because without an oline you risk losing whatever you invest in the QB to IR. 

Malik Willis was drafted in the third round (pick 86).  Quinn Ewers was drafted in the 7th round (pick 231).

Ewers started 3 games last year for the Dolphins - two of which were against non-playoff teams - and did not impress.

Ewers has played a total of three games.  That is not enough to know he sucks.  He was more impressive in his first three games than P Manning was in his first three games.

Willis has played in a total of six games.  They weren't any more impressive then Ewers.  It isn't enough to know he is good, not enough to know he sucks either.   

Peyton Manning was a #1 overall pick who had already showed sufficient promise in college to earn a couple of seasons to prove himself in the pros.
Ewers barely even got drafted and has much less slack.

In Willis' 3 games in GB, he has a passer rating of 134.6, with an average of 324 yards/2 TDs/0 INTs per game.
This is significantly more impressive than what Ewers has shown in Miami.

Now, did Willis suck in TEN?  Sure, and he wouldn't be getting $20M/year if that was the last thing he put on tape.  Similarly, if Ewers has a breakout performance over his next three games, we can talk about him as a comparable prospect.  But right now, they are not even close to each other.