The Miami Dolphins are hiring former Green Bay Packers VP of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan.
A new era in Miami Dolphins football is set to begin. The team was well engaged in interviews for their next general manager, and they have now found their new front office leader.
By Thursday, the Dolphins had finalized their GM candidate search to four individual:
- Chad Alexander, Los Angeles Chargers Assistant General Manager
- Champ Kelly, Miami Dolphins Interim General Manager
- Jon-Eric Sullivan, Green Bay Packers Vice President of Player Personnel
- Josh Williams, San Francisco 49ers Director, Scouting and Football Operations
Of the four names, the Dolphins have now hired Jon-Eric Sullivan, the former Green Bay Packers vice president of player personnel.
Sullivan is one of the most well-respected executives in the league, and he has spent the last 22 years with the Packers organization.
Starting as a scouting intern in 2003, Sullivan would work his way up the ladder within the Packers organization, serving as a region scout from 2008 to 2015. He was then promoted to director of scouting in 2016.
Sullivan was promoted again in 2018 to co-director of player personnel from 2018 to 2021. He was named vice president of player personnel in 2022, where he remained.
Sullivan emerged as a top candidate due to his strong recruiting background, which is what Dolphins owner Stephen Ross indicated the team was aiming for.
After multiple seasons with a subpar roster, it makes sense that the Dolphins wanted someone who has been involved in a winning franchise. Sullivan was around during the Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, and Jordan Love eras.
While the Packers were not consistent Super Bowl winners during the last 20 years, they have mostly stayed relevant and playoff contenders.
The current Packers roster is one of the best in the NFL, and Sullivan's track record over the Love eras was likely a huge deciding factor for the Dolphins organization.
With a new general manager in place, the team will now transition to hiring a new head coach after they fired Mike McDaniel.
There were plenty of rumors connecting the Dolphins to Chad Alexander due to his connection with John Harbaugh, who recently also became available, but the hiring of Sullivan wipes away that theory.
This does not mean the Dolphins won't still target Harbaugh as their new head coach, but they are likely to engage in interviews starting next week for their vacant head coach position. That may or may not include Harbaugh.
For now, the Dolphins can get to work on rebuilding the roster under Sullivan's leadership.