The Miami Dolphins have not performed well in cold weather, and new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan vows to correct that with his newly built team.
One of the glaring issues for the Miami Dolphins in recent seasons has been the inability to perform in cold-weather games.
In terms of games below the 40-degree mark, the Dolphins have lost the last five with Tua Tagovailoa at the helm. The narrative around the team has been just that, which is something new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan plans to correct.
Sullivan sat down to discuss his grander plan for the Dolphins, and he put emphasis on the division running through Buffalo and New England. Considering how well both teams played in 2025, this makes even more sense now.
Sullivan discussed a great deal of subjects, pointing to his experience with football and learning over the past 20 years with the Green Bay Packers. However, he brought up one of the glaring issues the Dolphins have had for multiple seasons, cold weather games.
"Our division runs through Buffalo, New England, and New York. Cold-weather places. There is a saying in our business, 'Fast get slows, but big doesn't get small.' So, understand that we are not going to sacrifice speed, explosion, and skill for a bunch of big, stiff guys. But we are going to have substance to us at all levels of our team. At corner, at receiver, and certainly up front," Sullivan said.
It will be interesting to see how Sullivan plans to start the rebuild for the Dolphins. As it stands, the team is in a current cap situation that could heavily impact the 2026 season.
Tagovailoa is owed over $50 million, as is receiver Tyreek Hill. Hill is likely to be released as a post-June 1 designation, which would save $22 million on the cap.
If Hill wants to stay, the Dolphins would need to strike a new team-friendly deal, which may not be how this pans out.
With two big cap hits coming, the Dolphins might need to cut Tagovailoa as well, taking the massive cap hit, and move on to 2027.
Then again, if Sullivan can somehow work some front office magic to get Tagovailoa traded, and the Hill situation can become more fluid, then the Dolphins may have a more favorable cap situation.
Sullivan needs to rebuild this team through the draft, and 2026 could be a down season, so the team can recoup money and draft capital in preparation for the 2027 season.
This is just speculation, but Sullivan appears ready to start building the team in a way that it can compete for a long time and in cold-weather situations.