When the Miami Dolphins hired Jeff Hafley as their new head coach, Hafley preached the idea of creating a culture of competition.
As a result, many assumed the Dolphins would undergo a quarterback competition between Quinn Ewers, who ended the 2025 season as the team’s starter, and a potential free agent addition or draft pick. Instead, Miami pivoted and signed top free agent quarterback Malik Willis to a three-year, $67 million contract, with $45 million guaranteed over the next two seasons.
Willis’ contract likely makes him the Week 1 starter for Miami, but that is not set in stone. And if Hafley truly does believe in competition at every position, Ewers may get a chance if his strong offseason performances continue.
Miami Dolphins Quarterback Competition
Regarding Miami’s quarterback situation, Miami Herald’s Omar Kelly said, “Ewers isn’t competing to be Dolphins’ starting QB, but maybe he should.”
Kelly wrote:
“There are some days he has outperformed Willis in the sessions the media has watched … So far Ewers looks like a quarterback who is taking the next step, and a contributing factor to that is that there’s carryover between the offense he learned last season under Mike McDaniel and the one Slowik is installing since they come from the same west coast offensive tree.”
Despite Ewers appearing to outperform Willis during the team’s practice sessions, it appears Willis’ job is not currently at risk as Dolphins on SI’s Alain Poupart said “Willis is still the guy.” Poupart wrote:
“Being that Quinn Ewers is familiar with the offense after his rookie season with the Dolphins, maybe it figured all along that he would be ahead of the game in the spring and he probably would get the nod as the most consistent quarterback over the three days of minicamp. But this is where we point out the difference wasn’t significant and there should be zero question that Malik Willis will be the starting quarterback for the Dolphins in 2026. Zero. None. And for all the good work that Ewers did, there’s a clear difference in athletic ability, most notably zip, arm strength and mobility when it comes to the two quarterbacks.”
Malik Willis’ Job Security
Despite this, Ewers may see the field this season if Willis struggles. Willis was recently named by Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox as one of the eight quarterbacks who could be benched in 2026.
Knox wrote:
“Willis struggled mightily (49.4 QB rating) during his two years with a bad Tennessee Titans team before arriving in Green Bay. After purging the roster of talent in the offseason, Miami is probably closer to those Tennessee teams than what Willis had over the past two years with the Packers.
If Willis flops alongside Miami’s underwhelming supporting cast, the Dolphins are likely to chase a top QB prospect in the 2027 draft. That could mean turning to Quinn Ewers or undrafted rookie Mark Gronowski in a bit of organizational tanking—even though Willis would likely be back as a bridge in 2027.”
While that would put Miami in a difficult situation with Willis’ contract heading into 2027, where Willis has $21.5 million guaranteed, other teams have proven able to move quarterbacks in similar situations. Justin Fields faced a similar situation with the Jets last season, and after struggling in the first year of his contract, he was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs.
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