The Dolphins are rolling with former third-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Malik Willis, as their quarterback for the 2026 NFL season after the Packers’ backup signed a three-year $67.5 million deal with Miami this offseason. Having former Green Bay executive Jon-Eric Sullivan as the Dolphins’ new general manager certainly helped the team from South Florida have a leg up on competition when it came to Willis’ services, but the prior relationship the two men already shared didn’t keep the quarterback from delaying the official agreement between he and the club for a short while when the NFL’s free agency period began.
Speaking with Hussam Patel and Eric Smith on the Scouting the Fins podcast, Cameron Wolfe of NFL Network spoke about the process the Dolphins and Willis went through in getting the young player to Miami this offseason, and why the quarterback didn’t immediately sign on the dotted line once he was legally allowed to do so.
“[Willis] was about to get signed. Right at 12:00 P.M., he got a call from the Dolphins brass, and it’s Jon-Eric Sullivan and Jeff Hafley and the whole crew, and at 12:00 P.M. on the dot, they say, ‘Hey, we want you to be here. We want you to be part of it. We want you to help us win this thing for many years to come. And we believe in you.’ He hangs up the phone and throws another 10-15 minutes without routes. And then his agent calls and says, ‘Hey, this what we’re going to be doing. This is what the numbers [are].’ He takes the phone call. His quarterback coach is like, ‘Hey, you want to just, like, put this training session for later? Like, this is probably the biggest day of your life…’ He’s like, ‘Nah, man. I’ll worry about it later. My agent is doing that.’
Wolfe continued:
“He didn’t actually end up talking to his agent and saying yes until about an hour later because he wanted to finish the throwing session. So, I think to me, you learn a little bit about who this guy is as a person. What makes him tick.”
For Wolfe’s entire interview, click on the video below.
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