The Miami Dolphins are heavily connected to Malik Willis, but a new contract prediction could be bad news for the team.
It is highly likely that the Miami Dolphins are moving on from Tua Tagovailoa, but there is no clear path on what the team plans to do about his contract just yet.
The looming contract decision for Tagovailoa has made the pairing of the Dolphins with Malik Willis seem very improbable, especially with the new contract prediction he was given.
Should the Dolphins designate Tagovailoa a post-June 1 cut, the $99.2 million he is owed will be spread over two seasons. Should they cut him at the start of the league year in March, they will incur that entire amount.
They could also choose to keep Tagovailoa on the roster, lessening his cap hit in 2027. The most favorable outcome is to trade him, while paying down a large chunk of his contract, and likely having to send a draft pick to facilitate that trade even more.
Simply put, Tagovailoa's contract and the Dolphins being in a $16 million deficit in their current cap situation might make acquiring anyone with a high asking price nearly impossible.
Enter Willis, who could command something along the lines of $20 million or more per season. NFL insider Tom Pelissero broke down the quarterback carousel, mentioning that the Dolphins may not be in line to sign Willis due to a predicted high asking price.
"I know that everybody has already photoshopped the Dolphins uniform onto him because of Jeff Hafley and Jon-Eric Sullivan, but the price is going to be high. Particularly if you are a team that is eating most or all of Tua's $54 million guaranteed salary next season. It's early, but I wouldn't be surprised if Malik Willis is commanding somewhere between 20 and 30 million a season in the open market," Pelissero said.
Pelissero points to Justin Fields getting $20 million per season, which is why the prediction for Willis is similar. The issue is that Fields was a starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears and Pittsburgh Steelers before he signed that deal with the New York Jets.
Willis has six starts in his career. Only six. That should be a red flag for most teams wanting to throw the quarterback a potential $50-60 million deal.
Willis did show what he can do in relief for Jordan Love in 2025, but that still is a small sample size.
The issue is that there are a multitude of teams that will be looking for a new quarterback, such as the Arizona Cardinals, Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, just to name a few. Miami may not be able to compete with higher offers, and despite the connection that Willis has to Jeff Hafley and Jon-Eric Sullivan, he may want to find a larger contract with the chance to start elsewhere.
This is not to say the Dolphins cannot land Willis, but paying him anything over the $20 million mark might not be the way to go.