Malik Willis is walking into Dolphins training camp with very little margin for error, and that’s putting it mildly.
He is not being asked to carry Miami to a Super Bowl run, a division crown or even a playoff push. The bar is much lower than that. Still, no player on the roster will be under a brighter spotlight than the team’s newest quarterback, because so much of the load in 2025 will fall on him.
That’s the reality of this Dolphins roster. Miami has stocked it with more inexperienced players than proven veterans, by design.
The organization wants to build the foundation, shape the culture and sort out which pieces actually belong. For most of those players, this is a season of development.
Their futures are still open. Willis is in a different spot.
His leash is short. A rough camp would only intensify the pressure once the season starts, and even a strong year does not automatically lock him into a long-term future in South Florida.
The path to losing the starting job would require something dramatic from Willis, along with a major leap from Quinn Ewers. Even with the role essentially in his hands, Willis still can’t outrun the 2027 draft.
Miami is expected to be in a position to hold one of the top three picks in that draft round, which could give the team a prime shot at landing a quarterback. If Willis struggles, the Dolphins may use that pick on one. If he plays at an elite level, they could be selecting much later.
His contract runs three years, but for the Dolphins it functions more like a two-year commitment if they decide to pivot. Willis is being paid to show he can start in the NFL, but this stretch in Miami could also serve as a showcase for whatever comes next in his career.
The soft-spoken quarterback is the player the Dolphins need right now and next year, but if he’s going to convince Jon-Eric Sullivan that he is the team’s unquestioned franchise quarterback, he has a steep climb ahead of him. And he has to make that climb with one of the worst WR rooms in the NFL.
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The result has been a steady drain on the core that once made the Dolphins look like a long-term AFC threat. Jaylen Waddle, Tua Tagovailoa and Bradley Chubb are among the names gone, and the departures of players such as Christian Wilkins, Robert Hunt and Jevon Holland only underline how much talent Miami has had to let walk. The remaining holdovers say as much about survival as continuity, and they leave one obvious question hanging over the franchise: how much of that contender can still be rebuilt? [Read more 🡒]
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