The Miami Dolphins are entering 2026 with a very different look, and the biggest questions around the team have less to do with the win total and more to do with whether this reset actually sticks.
After the organization moved on from Mike McDaniel, it brought in new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and new head coach Jeff Hafley, then quickly stripped the roster down by releasing or trading a number of expensive veteran players. The message was clear: get younger, get cheaper, and start over.
That leaves Miami with a training camp that is about more than just reps and preseason games. The Dolphins need answers, and they need them fast.
The first and most obvious question is whether Jeff Hafley is the right man to guide this rebuild.
Miami is no longer operating with the pressure of chasing immediate results. The focus now is on building a new culture, a new identity, and a foundation that can last. Around the league, the Dolphins are widely seen as one of the NFL’s biggest rebuilds heading into camp.
For Hafley, the early test is simple to say and hard to pull off: accountability and consistency.
That means defining leadership in the locker room, developing players instead of just collecting them, building a team that can survive injuries, and creating systems that don’t lean on one or two stars to hold everything together.
The next major question sits under center.
With Tua Tagovailoa now with the Atlanta Falcons, Miami is turning to newly signed Malik Willis to run the offense. His athleticism is not in doubt. What the Dolphins need to find out is whether he can be steady enough as a passer to make himself the answer beyond 2026, or whether the team will be back in the 2027 draft looking for its next franchise quarterback.
Willis does not have to put up 5,000 yards for this to work. The better path is for Miami to build around what he does best and keep the offense simple, fast, and dangerous. That could mean play-action passing, designed quarterback runs, rollouts and moving pockets, deep shots off run action, and quick, defined reads that let him play without hesitation.
The idea is to stress defenses with both his arm and his legs while avoiding the kinds of situations that expose his current weaknesses.
Then there is the rookie class, which may end up mattering just as much as anything else on the roster.
For a team in the early stages of a rebuild, rookie development is not a luxury. It is part of the timeline. Miami needs several players from its 2026 draft class to become real contributors, and it needs that process to start quickly.
Unlike veteran-heavy contenders that can bring first-year players along slowly, the Dolphins need immediate help. Every snap from those rookies is part of the organization’s next core taking shape.
The coaching staff will not be looking only at box-score numbers when it evaluates them. It will be watching for the details that show a player is ready to grow into a bigger role.
The Dolphins may not be expected to pile up wins in 2026, but this season still carries real weight for a franchise trying to climb back toward better days. If Hafley settles the culture, Willis gives the offense a direction, and the rookies start to hit, Miami can at least move this rebuild forward with purpose.
In Other News...
Former Patriots First Round Receiver Suddenly Linked To AFC East Twist
The Dolphins receiver room has been a talking point for a while, and the latest buzz around it comes from an idea that would add a veteran hand without forcing Miami into a major commitment. The appeal is straightforward: a low-risk move that could steady a group looking for more reliability, while giving the offense another experienced option to lean on if the current mix doesnt hold up.
Brandin Cooks has become the name attached to that possibility after recent stops with the Bills and Saints kept him in the AFC East conversation. For Miami, the attraction is not just what he could do right away, but the flexibility he might give the team later in the year if the Dolphins decide they need to keep turning over the position group. [Read more 🡒]
Tyrel Dodson Suddenly Faces A Big Dolphins Camp Question
The Dolphins have spent the offseason reshaping the linebacker room, drafting three players at the position and locking up defensive captain Jordyn Brooks, a sequence of moves that naturally puts the rest of the depth chart under a brighter spotlight. With training camp set to open in late July in Miami Gardens, every rep will matter for players trying to carve out a role, and the teams linebacker mix already looks like one of the more interesting position battles on the roster.
Tyrel Dodson now finds himself in the middle of that conversation, even as Miami keeps looking for ways to sharpen the roster ahead of camp. Jacob Rodriguez is one of the names to watch in that battle, and the way he performs could shape how the Dolphins view their veteran options at the position. For a team that has already made clear it wants more competition there, the next few weeks may say a lot about who stays in the picture and who becomes movable. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Camp Will Expose Whether This Overhaul Can Really Work
Miamis offseason makeover leaves camp with a lot more riding on it than the usual roster sorting. The Dolphins changed players, coaches and executives in a hurry, and now the focus shifts to whether Jeff Hafley can mold a young, unproven group into something coherent while showing he can handle the job at this level. For a team that has spent the spring talking about culture as much as talent, training camp is where those ideas have to stop being abstract.
The most watched names are easy to spot. Malik Willis enters as the handpicked successor at quarterback, Chris Johnson arrives as the second cornerback taken in Aprils draft, and Jonah Savaiinaea is in the mix on the right side of the line after Miami traded up to get him. Willis did not exactly light up offseason practices, but camp should offer a clearer read on what he can bring and whether the Dolphins have any real reason to waver from the plan unless things go badly. [Read more 🡒]