The Miami Dolphins have not lived up to expectations for years, and new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan could correct a major mistake the team has made during free agency.
The Miami Dolphins have a new coaching staff to go along with a new front office under general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan. With Sullivan leading the way on the player acquisition front, he has his work cut out for him.
Apart from the Dolphins needing to figure out what to do with the major Tua Tagovailoa contract, free agency is also right around the corner. While there are those who might think Miami will be busy acquiring new talent, that may not be the case, and Sullivan could correct a major mistake the front office has made for years.
Longtime Dolphins beat writer Kyle Crabbs broke down the comparisons on the types of contracts that Sullivan has given out while a member of the Green Bay Packers front office, along with what former general manager Chris Grier has done.
The biggest aspect of the Packers free agency plan is to sign minimal players they believe are high impact, and that has resulted in only six players being acquired since 2020.
"Since 2020, the Packers have signed just six players on the open market of free agency that received an annual average salary higher than $2.5 million per season. It’s an average of one 'big' contract per season. And four of the six have come in the last two years," Crabbs wrote.
The players are as follows:
- OG Aaron Banks: 4-years, $77M ($19.25M annual average) in 2025
- CB Nate Hobbs: 4-years, $48M ($12M annual average) in 2025
- SAF Xavier McKinney: 4-years, $67M ($16.75M annual average) in 2024
- RB Josh Jacobs: 4-years, $48M ($12M annual average) in 2024
- DT Jarran Reed: 1-year, $3.25M in 2022
- OT Ricky Wagner: 2-years, $11M ($5.5M annual average) in 2020
That is the entire list, and all of the listed players have certainly made an impact. What makes this data from Crabbs really important is how the Dolphins have treated free agency.
"The Packers have signed six contracts since 2020 north of $2.5 million annual average to new players from other teams in free agency. The Miami Dolphins, under the direction of former general manager Chris Grier, signed THIRTY SIX players from outside the organization to contracts valued above $2.5 million per year," Crabbs wrote.
Not only have the Dolphins added six times as many players, but a good majority of those players are likely not on the team any longer.
Grier was never a great talent evaluator, but this goes to show the comparison in how the Dolphins draft to how the Packers draft.
Signing 36 players to "big" free agency contracts and still remaining at the mediocre level is not something that looks good on paper. Sullivan was brought in due to having learned for 20 years how to build a winner.
That same formula is what Sullivan needs to do for the Dolphins, to ensure the constant player turnover and results on the field do not continue to be a pain point for the organization.
Sullivan preached the need to build through the draft and reward players who are brought up in the Dolphins organization. That is clearly a major need for the team, especially given their current cap situation.
The Dolphins are in a deficit of $16 million, and still have to deal with Tagovailoa's contract.
While the Dolphins could surprise everyone by signing some players in free agency, it would be more likely that they hold off and create cap space and stack draft capital for a much bigger 2027 season.